


Universal Time travel

by Leofire_cub04



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 38,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24431215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leofire_cub04/pseuds/Leofire_cub04
Summary: This is based on the 'Twoieverse' created on the blog sutimetravel on Tumblr. The original storyline and characters belong to flynnaw00! I hope you enjoy it!
Comments: 13
Kudos: 85





	1. Here we are in the future

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flynnaw00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/gifts).



Third Person POV:

It has been two years since Steven had left Beach City. He made his way around the other 39 states. He found his place somewhere in the countryside. Steven had called Bismuth and the others to help him build his house, and it looked close to the house built on the temple. It’s just a bit smaller than his old home but big enough to fit everyone when they come to his house for a visit. Bismuth also installed a warp pad near his house so that they can visit or he can go to them to visit since he was rather far away to drive over. Steven has moved on in a sense from the trauma of his past. He has learned to talk about how he feels, however, he does hold back most of the time. Steven got back into gardening, art, and cooking. Not only that but after a small breakdown, he decided to keep a small journal writing about anything and everything. No matter how small it seems. He even has a small journal for gardening and his jam recipes. After spending two years on Homeworld, before he met Spinel and the few weeks he would spend every now and then, he found it easier to write in Gem glyph than in English. When he writes to the gems, he writes in era 1; era 2 for Peridot and the Diamonds; and era 3 for his own notes and thoughts. He does have a small translation page at the front since sometimes he forgets certain glyphs.

He does have Prozac, Paxil, and Lexapro to take every day, but he doesn’t complain. He knows that they are helping him get better, even if the side effects do affect him every now and then. He does try to face-time with his therapist once a week, but his therapist has wanted to try something recently. They told him to start branching out to his family even more than he already has since he brought up how sometimes he would still hold things and feelings in. He grew to trust his therapist. His therapist, Dr. Bree, at the start had no idea of his life. However, she was helping him get through the trauma left from his past. She often gave him pointers for his smaller attacks and episodes. The ‘homework’ she would give him would end up helping him later. The papers she gives him on how to help by doing certain activities has become a huge help. It’s why he got back into music since it had been such a long time since he last picked up his guitar. Sometimes, their sessions wouldn’t help at the time. It sometimes hurt him in the sense of feeling insignificant with his problems, not that he would say so anyways. However, after a hike or a nice scream somewhere far from other people, he would truly understand what she was talking about.

Sure, sometimes he will run into something that triggers unwanted memories or reactions. Maybe sometimes, he has nightmares from two years ago that would end up playing on the television, and maybe sometimes he locks himself in his house when it gets bad. Sometimes, when he gets extremely mad or scared, his cheeks turn pink but he hasn’t gone fully pink since his outburst two years ago. And when he turns pink, he might get traits from his last ‘episode’. Maybe horns or a tail, sometimes claws would show if he's stressed enough. Sure, sometimes he responds to things as if he has to fight it, but not as often as before. Sure, sometimes he talks about what happened to him as if it was nothing and sometimes detaches from reality for a moment or even spaces out. Sometimes, when he feels threatened, he thinks he’s back in the past and will freak out. However, he knows that everyone is there for him, and they know how to treat him in those situations. They learned to treat him more gently in those moments, but treat him normally every other time just as he asked them to do. Of course, recovering and the road for it would be hard. There’s really no easy street for this, but even after two years, it’s still hard for him. However, Dr. Bree reminds him of how far he has come so far along with everyone else, and he does see it but he also sees the problems that still lay ahead.

_I’m living for myself. No other people than me. I don’t need to hold onto or solve other people’s problems…And that’s okay._ Steven thinks to himself as he grabs his coat from one of his dining room chairs. He softly smiles to himself, grabs his bag of stuff, and heads to the warp. He makes sure that he packed everything.

“Let’s see… Clothes, toiletries, meds, extra pillow, journals and pens, phone, phone charger, jacket, and fresh jam. Yup, I have everything I need! Dad will love the new jam…I hope.” He smiles and locks his front door behind himself as he starts his short walk to the warp pad. After three or so minutes of walking, he spots the warp pad and jumps on top of it. He thinks about the beach and his old house. He closes his eyes and hums a wordless tune as he warps there. He opens his eyes to see his dad and Lion waiting for him on the couch.

“Steven! We’ve been waiting for you!” Greg remarks as he gets off the couch and Lion turns his head to look at Steven. Steven smiles and runs to Greg and gives him a hug and then hugs Lion.

“Hey Dad, it’s been a while. I missed you guys.” Steven says as he rubs Lion’s head with a smile. He hears the temple door open and turns to see the gems running out of Garnet’s room with tears and smiles.

“STEVEN!” He hears his name before he’s tackled to the ground by Pearl and Amethyst while Garnet waits to give him a hug. After giving Pearl and Amethyst their hug, he gets up and hugs Garnet. She smiles and holds him tightly. They all take their seats in the living room.

“Dude! Where have you been? It feels like it’s been years since we’ve seen you!” Amethyst questions as she playfully punches him on the arm. He chuckles.

“Well, I had to work in my garden and make jam. I also went on some hikes and did some journaling. I also tried some new recipes for breakfast foods, homemade pasta, and pizzas as well. Then I just kinda forgot to pop by and visit. So, to make up for that, I thought I could maybe stay here for a few days. Would that be alright? I mean, I did check with Dad first.” He explains as he looks away. Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet all look at each other for a moment before putting their hands on his shoulder with big smiles.

“Of course, dude!”

“Yes, we would love for you to stay with us.”

“Oh Steven, we always love it when you visit and stay for a day or two so you don’t need to ask.”

He shyly looks down at them and then his jam he brought with him comes back to mind. He makes a small ‘oh’ sound and runs back to his forgotten bag on the warp pad. He opens the middle pocket and pulls out a medium-size jar filled with strawberry jam. He brings it over to Greg and the gems with a proud smile. “I thought I should bring over some of the fresh strawberry jam I made! I’m not sure if it’s as good as last year’s because I did add a bit more sugar and a little bit of vanilla into it this time.”

Pearl smiles and walks over to him, “Oh Steven, I’m sure it’s just as good or even better. And that’s very thoughtful of you!” She hugs him and he chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck.

Amethyst had perked up as soon as he said jam. She was the one to get him to try and make some of his own since he would get fussy about which ones to buy. Not to mention that he didn’t want to continue buying the same brand as before for reasons he wouldn’t tell her. So obviously, she was the first person to try it, and it easily became one of her favorite foods to eat. So, as soon as she sees the jar she runs over to him to get the jar. She grabs it as fast as she can and runs.

“I got the jam!”

“Amethyst! That’s for everyone here! You have to share!” Steven chases after her to get the jam back. He ends up cornering her in the kitchen and pries the jam from her. He places the now safe jam jar in the fridge. He gives Amethyst a glare that has no heat behind it. Then laughs, as she shapeshifts into him and makes a derp face back at him. He then turns to face all of them and just smiles.

“It feels great to be back.” He says as he gives everyone one more hug.

The Gems, Lion, Greg, and Steven spend some of the night catching up what they have been doing. Steven pulls out his guitar after an hour of talking and they sing the songs he used to together. The gems are ecstatic about the idea of singing together. Sure, sometimes when they would visit, he would hum or even sing, but he only started to sing and play on his guitar again, since two weeks ago. He didn’t want to go back to music since it had been there for most of his life, and had seen what he went through. When he was on his trip around the other 39 states he had made a few friends and sang with them, but never touched an instrument. So he started to branch out more, but recently he found himself, okay being with his guitar again. So with a smile, he picks the one song that he has held in his heart for a while.

“Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. Isn’t it pretty?” Steven starts as he strums his guitar in the same chords as he did when singing to Peridot. Amethyst snickers and brushes her hair out of her face and shapeshifts into Peridot and smiles. “We’re making music.”

Amethyst stands up and leans on the table, “What is the point? You’re not making anything.”

Steven cracks a genuine smile. A sign that he’s getting better. Not many of those have been going around, but he tries to save them for his family. He continues while standing up and next to Amethyst, and closes his eyes and shapeshifts into his younger self. “Well, if it isn’t anything… Then why does it sound so good?”

“I suppose it’s just interest… Do-mi-so-do? Devoid of substance or purpose, a hypothetical pattern… Do-mi-so-ti… For the satisfaction of bringing it to completion!” Amethyst recites and everyone stops to look at her. Nobody had expected her to remember what Peridot had said when they first sang this song. Steven softly snorts and continues strumming the guitar.

“Sure!” He smiles at her. She pretends to think for a moment.

“Do-me-so-ti.” She looks back at Pearl, who softly laughs at the two of them. And continues after Amethyst.

“Interest without meaning? Solutions without problems?” Pearl softly states thinking back to those times of relaxation when building the drill.

“And then you just add words! Here’s what I’ve been working on, Life and death and love and birth. And peace and love on the planet on the Earth.” Steven looks up from his guitar and at his dad who is smiling at his son. “Is there anything that’s worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth? Oh-whoa, come on and sing it with me…”

“Sing?” Garnet smiles and tilts her head in a way that shows her reminiscing on what they did those days at the barn.

“The words relate to the key…”

“Key?” Pearl pulls out a key from her gem causing laughter from Greg.

“If it’s a pattern if it’s a pattern, then just repeat after me.” Steven smiles and sits next to his dad and strums the guitar a bit more. Then he looks at his dad, “Life and death and love and birth…”

“Life and death and love and birth,” Greg repeats back to Steven.

“Then you sing mi-fa-mi-mi-fa-mi-ta-la! And peace and war on the planet Earth!” Greg and Steven sing together with a smile. Steven then goes back to his normal form and looks around at everyone smiling and having fun.

“Yes, yes! That’s it!”

“That’s so easy.”

“Yeah, but that’s what’s fun about it! You should write something! You should write a song!” Steven stands up and twirls around amethyst as he sings this.

“About what?” She smiles and he smiles back.

“Whatever you’re thinking!”

She smiles and in the best impression of Peridot, sings her part “I guess we’re already here. I guess we already know. We’ve all got something to fear, we’ve all got nowhere to go. I think you’re all insane! But, I guess I am too. Anybody would be if they were stuck here with you!” She huffs as she falls backward onto the carpet. Steven laughs out a yes before going back to the song. 

" Life and death and love and birth," Steven sings. 

" Life and death and love and birth," Greg repeats back to Steven. 

" Life and death and love and birth," Amethyst sings back in her normal form. 

"And peace and war on the planet Earth" Pearl sings. 

"Is there anything that's worth more?" Garnet smiles. 

"Is there anything that's worth more?" Greg repeats one more time. 

"Is there anything that's worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth?" Steven finishes with a final strum of his guitar. They all look at each other and smile. One of the few moments of rest and happiness as a family. Which reminds Pearl of something. 

"Hey, Steven… Do you still have those random videos on your phone?" Steven looks at Pearl with confusion for a moment before his face brightens. 

"Which ones? The music ones, the homeworld ones, or the random feral ones that we all kinda recorded?"

Pearl laughs for a moment before thinking, "Wait you still have all of them?" And Steven nods. 

How could he get rid of them? The homeworld ones were of his talks with himself through White Diamond mainly to show his therapist, and just bonding moments with Spinel and the Diamonds as well. The music ones were him singing covers of his favorite songs with or without his guitar and he has those to show his progress. From the beginning of healing to where he is today. He does have a small flash drive that connects to his phone with more private and personal videos and pictures on it, but that will stay within his pocket gem thing. 

Ever since he put something in his pocket only to pull something else he had put in his other pocket days ago. He started realizing that just like Pearl he could store a few things in his pockets and they could be pulled out later. But, only things that could fit in his pockets would work. 

_Oh well, that's a mystery for another day. Hopefully, I can figure it out just like the bubbles and walls_. However, it would explain the number of hair ties and headbands going missing. Maybe it’s because his jacket and undershirt are actually light clothing like the gems. Maybe he can see what else he can fit into his pockets. What about his backpack? His jeans? He knows that it works the same way his jacket does because he has pulled out his phone cord from his jeans when he put it in his jacket pocket. More things to try out and ask than answers. He mindlessly strums on his guitar as he thinks about his questions. No one seems to mind that he’s tuned out of their conversation. They’re used to this by now; his random moments of spacing out and humming. Even at random moments, it shows how much he has gotten better. However, they know when it changes for the worst, so they watch with pride as the corners of his mouth tug into a very small smile.

There are moments where Steven’s family does worry about him. Questioning if his pills that his therapist prescribed him actually work or not. More so in the first week to the second where he just was getting more of the side effects than help. Even though he has only gotten them around three months ago. However, he does seem to be doing better than the last time they saw him. And that’s all they want for him. Sure he lost some weight, but he’s trying to gain it back. And they all notice how hard he is trying, so they are trying to encourage him to keep going. As the gems and Greg watch with love and fondness in their eyes, Steven continues to strum and hum to a wordless tune.

Lion decides to curl up on the ground to lay down next to Steven and sleep, and Steven lays down against him. Lion opens one of his eyes and looks at Steven. Steven looks at Lion and Lion lifts up one of his front legs and grabs Steven. He holds Steven like that as Steven chuckles and puts his guitar down.

“I guess it is really late. So I think we show turn in for the night. What do you say?” Greg covers his mouth with one of his hands as he yawns. He looks to Steven who was able to change his outfit to his pajamas with his jacket still on. Steven looks at Greg and nods. The gems get up and walk to the temple door.

“See you later dudes.” Are Amethyst’s words before her door shuts behind her. She smiles at them and Steven waves back.

“Good night Steven. And have sweet dreams.” Pearl tells him as she gives him a good night hug. He hugs her back and then she waves good night to Greg. With that, her door closes behind her.

Garnet smiles before turning to Steven. She gets down on one knee to speak to him at eye level since it is clear that Lion isn’t letting him go anytime sooner.”Steven, listen carefully. I want you to put as much stuff as you brought into your jacket pockets.” He looks at her in confusion.

“Why?” She frowns for a second.

“Something, I don’t know what is going to happen that causes you to go somewhere after you touch Amethyst’s glass hourglass.” Steven, now even more confused, looks at the item in question on the table. Then he looks back to Garnet. _I guess I’ll just have to trust her on this for now. I wonder what will happen._ He nods in understanding and she smiles at him. “Good. Now I don’t know what will happen, something is blocking my view, but be safe and know that we love you. And goodnight Cutie-pie. We’ll always be here for you.” She gives him a kiss on the forehead. However, this wasn’t one to give him a future vision, it was just one filled with motherly love. 

She ruffles his hair as she stands up and he chuckles as she does. As she starts walking to her door, he grabs his bag and pulls it towards him. He puts his keys, phone charger, phone, meds, journals, pens, and toiletries into his pockets and watches as the items disappear. For clothes, there really isn’t anything he can do and the same with the pillow. And with that, he closes his eyes and falls into a light sleep. 

A few hours after falling into a dreamless sleep, he wakes up to hear the faint noise of the diamond line. He slowly gets up from the floor while not waking Lion as he squirms to get out of his hold. He carefully makes his way out the front door and then looks up at the small garden/ warp hub. He looks around as he quietly jumps up to the walkway. He opens the door and then walks to the small table with the diamond line he was given. He smiles as he sees the color. He taps it and it opens up.

“STEVIE!” Is the first thing he hears as he grabs the screen to move it. He smiles as Spinel’s face fills the screen.

“Hey, Spinel. What’s up? It’s four in the morning here.” He looks back to the screen while putting his phone back into his pocket. Spinel’s smile fades a bit as she takes a good look at him.

“Stevie, remember? It’s our time to talk! I tried callin’ yer- what do ya call it?- Home line! But you weren’t there. So I called this one!” Steven rubs the back of his neck with his free hand as he makes his way to the beach. Spinel smiles again.

“Stars! I’m sorry Spinel, I forgot about that.” She waves him off.

“Eh, that’s fine, Steven. Anyways, let’s talk. Are you up to it?” She looks him in the eyes, and he looks away. He bites the inside of his cheek and thinks for a moment. Then he shakes his head. He has his journal with him. Even if she gets him, he still likes to write it out more. She smiles, “Alright then. We don’t have to talk about anything.” She goes on while Steven nods and sits down on the beach. 

He takes off his sandals and goes closer to the ocean. He lifts the screen up a little and lets it float there in the air. Steven’s toes are in the water when the tide comes in, and he wraps his arms around himself as he looks at her. Spinel looks at him then smiles. _At least I can try and help you, Stevie. You helped me, so now I can be there for you too_. He smiles at her as they talk. At one point, the sun starts to rise, so he turns the screen for her to also watch with him. 

“Wow, Stevie! It sure is pretty.” Steven stares at the sunrise. 

Watching as the colors bleed together making a beautiful ombre of colors. He stares in wonder and awe. The bright colors of happiness blending with the deep blues of sadness to make a beautiful balance. One that he almost has. He almost has that beautiful balance, but his blues overtake his bright colors. However, he still holds on to his hope no matter what. Spinel, on the screen, turns to Steven to see his eyes are pink with diamond pupils as small tears flow down his face. _He’s tuned out again. I wonder what happens when he gets like this_. She watches in fascination for a few moments as he doesn’t blink and the tears just trace his face as softly as they can.

“Stevie?” She questions, as the curiosity of if he knows what’s happening builds. He rubs his eyes in reflex and turns to her. 

“Hm? Is there something you need?” She notices that his eyes look normal again. She panics for a second. She feels as if today she has to be there for him, but doesn’t want him catching on to her idea.

“Is it alright if I come over? To uh… Eat?” He stares at her for a moment and she starts to nervously sweat. He blinks once then twice. Then he cracks a grin.

“Sure, why not? Take the warp, but don’t bring the Diamonds again. We don’t want a repeat of last time.” He chuckles as he remembers the last time the Diamonds had tried to take the warp to see him. There was a lot of glass to be cleaned up after. She blushes in embarrassment as she remembers what happened.

“Yeah okay. I promise! So I’ll see you in a few minutes! Buh-bye!” She waves goodbye as the screen returns back into the diamond mold.

He stands up and gently grabs the diamond line. He places it into his pocket and dusts the sand off of his pajama pants and slides his sandals back on. Steven makes his way back to the house with a small yawn. He opens the front door at the same time he hears the warp pad sound off. He smiles and chuckles as he hears faint frantic squeak-steps coming from the garden/warp hub. Steven sets the diamond line down on the cushion by the door. He walks over to Lion as Lion sits up.

“Good morning Lion.” He says as he gives Lion a hug. Lion returns the favor by rubbing his head into Steven’s neck. Steven looks down at Lion and smiles at him as Lion looks up and blinks at Steven. 

He turns around to see Greg and Spinel standing on the stairway.

“STEVIE!”

“Morning son.”

“Morning!” Steven chuckles as he gets tackled by Spinel. She wraps her arms around him just about four times and then lifts him up. She looks him up and down.

“Jeez Stevie, I knew that you grew since the last time I saw you in person, but now you’re about the same height as the Amethysts and Jaspers!” She jokes, while purposely leaving out the Rose Quartzes. Which he’s grateful for; while he is better at understanding and staying calm about his mom, it’s still a sore spot. 

He chuckles as she sets him back down. He hugs her then hugs his dad as a good morning. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small hair tie. He ties his hair up into a fluffy and curly ponytail. It reaches just below his shoulders, and the front left part of his hair barely fits into his ponytail. While his left bangs fall in front of his face and he brushes them behind his ear. And then with a flick of his wrist, his clothes change into a pair of cuffed jeans, and a black shirt with a yellow star on it. His sandals stayed the same, while he reached into his backpack and pulled out his earth made varsity jacket. As he puts it on, Greg looks at him in happiness.

“Geez. I haven’t seen that one in a long time! I mean, yeah you wear it. But you haven’t worn this one for a long time!” Steven chuckles.

“Light clothes are great and have moments that are really useful/ helpful. However, I love earthen clothes as well.” Steven smiles. 

As he’s putting that back, Spinel looks around the house. Sure she’s seen it every now and then but has never really actually _seen_ the house. She notices the change from wood to rock where the temple is. She notices that there are some things that are different than others, as some of the wood that became the floors is a darker shade than the rest. She sees Lion and the couch and the table. She smiles as it looks nice to her. Steven notices her looking around and grins. 

Then her eyes land on the hourglass on the table. She stares at it in curiosity. She notices that the sand at the top doesn’t seem to be running out. She then reaches for it and flips it upside down. Steven looks over and panics as it starts to glow and change. It floats up halfway to the roof and changes into a portal with a loud bang.

 _Could this be what Garnet saw? Is this what I’m supposed to be worried about?_ Steven’s panicked thoughts start to change into those of worry as he looks to his dad, Lion, and Spinel. _I have to make sure they’re okay!_ He hurries to grab Spinel and put her on the safety of the stairs where she could grab onto if things go wrong. He then looks at his dad and Lion who are starting to be moved towards the new portal. 

“Dad! Lion!” Greg turns to see Steven and Spinel. 

“Steven!” 

Steven looks to the temple where the gems are. They heard the noise and went out to investigate. Steven notices that they are having a hard time staying put as well. He makes a split-second decision and puts a wall up between his dad and the portal. While Lion finds a way to hop over to his dad's wall and stay there with him. He sighs in relief that his dad and Lion are safe, and relaxes. Only stepping a little bit out from behind Spinel’s and his wall. However, he starts to get pulled in, he can fight against it but isn’t doing so great since he has a wall in front of his dad, Spinel, and the gems. He panics but stays as calm as he can so the walls don’t fall or move. As he gets closer and closer, he grabs onto the couch as he notices that the furniture isn’t moving, just them. He sighs for a moment before he hears a ripping sound. His eyes snap open in panic as he sees the cushion is starting to rip. 

“Steven!” Everyone yells as he lets go of the couch, not wanting to ruin it anymore than he has, and starts to float to the portal. 

“Guys?! I th-” was all he got to say before most of his body went through the portal. Only his arms were sticking out.

His walls go down, and everyone scrambles to try and pull him out of it. They pull and pull until his legs are the only thing left inside. Once his face comes back, they notice the look of dread and confusion he has. He clears his throat and notes that his legs are stuck on something. _Maybe on one of the support beams. But that was the house. But it wasn't at the same time. It was the house before it was redone. But that doesn't stop the fact that I'm stuck on something._ He looks down at everyone and notices that they look scared and nervous. He closes his eyes.

“Guys, I need you to let me go.” They all look at him in panic and fear.

“WHAT?! Stevie! NO!”

“Dude! No way!”

“Steven! No! I need you here! You’re my son and you should be in any more danger!”

“My baby! No!”

“Steven, we won’t let you go. Why would we?” 

Steven looks at his legs and feels something pulling on them. Then he looks down at his family in tears. “Guys, it’s the past. The portal leads to the past. And I'm caught on something. I can't see what I'm caught on though.” They all look shocked to an extent and then hold him tighter. “Guys! You have to let go! Something is pulling me on the other side!”

“Stevie! Please don’t go! I’m sorry!”

“Dude! If you have to relive your past, it will break you again! I’m not letting you go through all of that again!”

“Steven… If this hurts to keep pulling you here, I’m sorry but we need you here! We love you so much!”

“Steven! No! We acted so badly in the past, and I don't want to lose you! I’m sorry! We need you here!”

“Steven… We don’t want to hurt you, and being pulled from both sides hurts. However, you are staying here with us.”

Steven tears up as he hears his family protesting against him leaving. He cries out in pain when his legs get another tug from the other side. And his legs on that side are grabbed tighter and he’s starting to go back into the portal. Right before one last tug pulls him through he hears Garnet.

“Remember! We always love you! Be safe!” As he feels their hands forcefully ripped off of his arms and hands as he cries out.

“Gar-” Was all he had gotten to say before he was surrounded by black. 

It lasts for a moment, then everything comes rushing back. “-Net please don’t let me go!” His voice cracks as he screeches right before he falls onto the ground. “Please. Where’s my happily ever after?” He whispers so softly it was as if he only mouthed it. He lifts his face from the ground to look at the couch in front of him. His eyes fill with tears as his bangs fall back into place covering one of his eyes and he stays there on the floor for a moment. He then sits upon his knees and wipes his eyes.

“Excuse me? Are you alright?” Comes a voice from behind him.


	2. Let's think about the past.

Third Person POV:

In a small moment of panic, Steven turns his head around to see the Gems staring at him with their weapons out.  _ Past gems. I'm in the past. _ He reminds himself as he notes their outfits looking nothing like the ones he knows. Then his eyes fall on the little boy standing in front of them. The redshirt with a yellow star on it that he knows from anywhere, the one he gave to Peridot. The curly hair that he also has.  _ Past me... That’s past me. _ He notes in his head. A faint buzzing is heard in the background, and before he can focus on that another voice that isn’t his pulls his focus again.

“-llo? Are you okay?” He refocuses his attention from his thoughts onto his younger self. And wipes his eyes one more time before turning to face the boy. 

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m alright.” the older boy states louder than before but still soft like a whisper. He looks away as he notes that his hair tie was gone.  _ Must have snapped during all of that. _ He thinks as he starts to play with his hair that fell over his shoulder. He starts to sweat a bit and shrink back as he feels everyone staring at him. Then the buzzing comes back, just a bit louder than before. His vision starts to tunnel as he focuses on his pink sleeves and hands.  _ Stop. Come on Steven, pull yourself together. Calm down. You know what you're working yourself into. Keep your hands where you can see them. No hair pulling. You have a streak going with that. Remember what they told you. Your sleeves, not your skin or hair.  _

The gems look at him in confusion as he takes his hands away from his hair and tugs on his sleeves. Where did this human come from? Who were they yelling at before they pulled him out? Why do they kinda look like Steven? Steven, as a curious little boy, looks at the stranger with wonder. Was this a gem? He didn’t think so. He has a star on his shirt, so he might be someone helping the gems. Who is he? Steven also notes that the boy’s hands are shaking a lot, and he wants to help. He likes to help people, so maybe he can help! Maybe he can impress the gems that way.

“Hey! My name is Steven. What’s yours?” 

The older boy looks up from his sleeves to his past self to see him on his knees sitting in front of him. Then he looks to the gems, and they raise up their weapons just a bit more. He then looks back at his younger self. He clears his throat and speaks more clearly.

“Hi, Steven.” He politely smiles and the gems are surprised to hear a deeper voice than they were expecting, “My name is Steven as well.”

The younger one lights up and the gems look confused. “Really? That’s so cool! But I have questions.” The older of the two chuckles quietly and tucks some hair out of his face behind his ear. Steven notes that this other Steven’s hands aren’t shaking as much. He smiles, he must be doing something right to help the older boy. While the other boy is just grateful for the distraction from his younger self.

“Steven I don-” Pearl starts to walk to him, but a hand on her shoulder stops her. She turns to see Garnet.

“Pearl, I think we should let them talk. It could explain things to us, and get to know him better.”

Steven smiles at Garnet and turns to face the other boy again. The boy gets startled by the younger’s energy.  _ Was I always like this? Geez, I really have changed. For the worst, and for the better _ . He quietly chuckles as his younger self scoots closer to him.

“Is it alright if I ask you questions?” The older boy nods and sits down on the ground properly since the wood was starting to hurt his knees a bit.

“Alright! So how old are you?” 

“I am 18 years old.”

“Wow! So you’re an adult now!” Older Steven chuckles.

“I guess I am.”

“When is your birthday?” Older Steven bites the inside of his cheek before giving a knowing smile.

“August 15th.” The young boy smiles and places his hands to his face in surprise.

“Really?! Me too!” The older boy grins at his excitement. The gems smile at the young boy’s excitement as well.

“Where did you come from?”

“What do you mean?”  _ Is he asking what city? The portal? Time? _

“Like where were you before we pulled you from the portal?”

“Oh… At home with my family. I was just about to start cooking breakfast.” He looks down to avoid eye contact. And the 13-year old’s heart just breaks at his answer. Did they pull him from his family? He thought they were saving him. So did the gems. Is that why he came out of the portal asking someone to hold onto him?

“I’m sorry.” Guilt is thick in his voice as Steven began to think he screwed things up again.

The older boy gets startled at how guilty he sounds. Knowing the spiral he gets into as soon as he starts saying sorry, he shakes his head quickly. “No! No, don’t be sorry. It was my friend’s fault for that.” He chuckles softly at the thought of Spinel. And then his soft chuckles end with him frowning.

Steven gets curious and asks, “What do you mean?”

“Oh! Um. She was visiting my family’s house- I was visiting, and she came over to visit me and the family- and she touched an hourglass that was on the table, and then it turned into the portal that led to here. I’m just glad that I was able to keep my family and friends safe.”

This catches the gems’ attention. What hourglass does that? Was it a gem item? How did a human activate it?

“Oh. Um… So do you come from another state?”

“Ah… Let’s see… How do I explain this...” The older boy rubs the back of his neck.

“What? Explain what?” Steven tilts his head to the side in confusion while the gems stare at them.

“I know this sounds wrong, but I’m from the future. I’m you, Steven. Here, let me show you.” 

With that, he stands up and brings out his pink shield. The rose is still there, but behind it is a star. The shield is round but has a few edges to it as well. Not to mention that it has cracks. As if it was broken and put back together with a shimmering pink color glue. The gems look at it very suspiciously since it doesn’t look like the shield Rose had. The older Steven picks up on this.

“I know it doesn’t look like Rose’s shield, but I am my own person. So it changed at one point from Rose’s to my own.” The gems stare at him for a moment as he grabs his shirt right above his gem. Steven, not noticing the discomfort on his older self’s face, continues to marvel over the shield he could have in the future. Amethyst shugs while Pearl and Garnet relax their stance.

“That would explain a lot. So Steven from the future, What should we call you?” 

She smiles at him as the younger boy gasps and runs to his room and grabs a marker. He then runs back down the stairs and uncaps the marker. The older one looks confused as Steven draws a number 2 on his hand. The older Steven takes his hand back and looks at the two while Steven turns to the gems.

“How about Twoie?” The gems look at each other and then back at the newly dubbed Twoie. Twoie looks at the gems and Steven and chuckles.

"Alright then. I guess I'm Twoie now." 

He softly smiles and puts his shield away. Steven runs up to him and hugs him, but ends up hugging his leg. And it dawns on the gems and Steven how tall he actually is. Amethyst, Steven, and Pearl realize that they have to look up at him while Garnet only has to tilt her head up at a smaller angle. Steven’s eyes fill up with excitement as he sees how tall and strong he will be. While Pearl sees more of Rose in the older Steven. She can see him so close to Rose and it hurts her. However, it didn’t at the same time. It made her feel closer to Rose than she has in a while. Then, she sees the differences between them. Rose never had a tired look to her, she never seemed to hold herself the way Twoie does.

“Dude! When did you get so tall?!” Amethyst runs up to him. He chuckles and pulls out another hair tie from his jean pocket. As he starts to tie his hair up, he thinks.

“I had my first growth spurt around sixteen and was about this tall,” He puts a hand around the middle of his chest and his bangs choose that moment to spring back into his face. So he sweeps them behind his ear, “And then grew again around my 18th birthday.” 

Pearl walks over and looks at his outfit. Garnet looks at him as well. Pearl then starts looking at Twoie’s hair while Twoie is trying to pick up Steven.

“Steven, I mean Twoie, your hair is long.” Twoie crookedly smiles at Garnet as he holds Steven in his arms. Steven is sitting on his forearm and has one of his hands on Twoie’s upper arm.

"Thanks, Garnet. After a few bad things that happened and a rough time dealing with certain things, I wanted to grow it out. So I did. Plus, Amethyst likes to lay on it since it’s fluffy." The gems frown for a moment. That didn't sound good to them. It was cryptic and ominous, and it put them on guard.

"Twoie, what do you mean 'after a few bad things happened'?" He freezes up and his grip on Steven gets a little tighter. Steven notices and moves his hand onto Twoie's shoulder while looking at him in concern. He takes a small practiced breath in and holds it, and then lets it go. Twoie looks away from Steven and to Garnet. 

"I don't know if I should say. I mean, it could affect the future more than me being here already has." Garnet nods in understanding. And she thinks for a moment. 

"Twoie? How about this: since you know what will happen, you can give us a hint of what you shouldn't interfere with. And help us when you can. And if you have problems you can come to me." 

Twoie looks at Garnet as he thinks back on what happened to him.  _ Maybe I can fix things. I can make it so that he doesn't have such a bad future. He could have his happily ever after.  _ He tears up as the fact of him maybe reliving his trauma hits him and the grip on Steven gets tighter. The gems get worried as he starts to cry and Steven looks at him in confusion.  _ What would happen that would make me in the future so sad?  _ Steven hugs Twoie’s neck tightly and Twoie returns the hug. As Twoie cries, he digs his face into Steven's shoulder. Until a few moments later when Twoie lifts his head from Steven’s shoulder and Steven looks at him with a hopeful smile. He wipes his eyes before he looks again at Garnet. 

"Yeah. That sounds good to me." They smile as they hug. And for a moment Twoie feels like he is with his family, but he knows they aren't at the same time. Once it sinks in with Twoie, his small smile turns to a frown.  _ This will take some time to get used to…  _

"Oh! We should tell Dad and Connie!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter was shorter than the other! I hope you enjoy the story so far!


	3. Didn't think morning could be like this...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a crazy first morning for the boys.

Third Person POV:

Once Steven was back on the ground, he started to run around the house, happy to show his future self to anyone and everyone. Twoie watched as he ran around in complete wonder.  _ Geez. How did I always have so much energy? _

“Ready!” Steven shouted while putting on his flip flop and running down to the door. Twoie and the gems chuckled and it dawned on Twoie.

“Hey, Steven? (God that’s weird to say.) Do you know what time it is?” Twoie finishes with a yawn. He’s worn out by the little sleep he’s gotten and everything that just happened.  _ I could use a coffee right now. I wonder if we have a coffee machine. Wait, was it here before I started using it? Or was it a gift from when Bismuth rebuilt the house for the first time? _

Steven goes into his room and looks at the cookie cat clock. “It’s 8:35!” Twoie chuckles as he sees Steven’s head appear over the little ledge.

“Steven! Don’t do that! That’s dangerous!” Pearl yells as Steven backs away from the ledge. Garnet and Amethyst both look to Twoie.

“Alright, uh… Twoie. We’re trusting you to watch over Steven this morning since we have a mission.” As Garnet tells Twoie this, Amethyst looks at her. 

“We do?” She notices that small hand movement from Garnet. "So what happened this time?” Garnet looks at her and hums in a way that Twoie can’t quite understand.

Steven sees the interaction and is excited about it. A whole morning that he can learn about the future?! Maybe not through what he thinks, but it's still the future. While Twoie now understands this as they don’t trust him. He can understand why, but it hurts from his family. He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes and looks strained. Garnet smiles at him and pulls Amethyst and Pearl onto the warp pad.

“Be good, Steven! You too, Twoie!”

“We’ll see you later.”

“Bye dudes!”

Steven waves them bye while Twoie just nods at them. Twoie then looks at Steven. “So, have you eaten yet?” Steven shakes his head in response.

“No, I was thinking we could go to the Big Donut and get a donut on the way to see Dad.” Twoie hums in response. A donut sounds good, but what about something healthier. 

Twoie hums in response and walks over to the kitchen. “How about I make you something instead?” Steven gasps and runs over to the bar counter and sits down. Twoie laughs and pulls out a pan. He sets it on the stove and walks over to the fridge. He looks inside while his bangs fall back into his eye. He huffs and nudges them behind his ear, and pulls out eggs, milk, cheese, and some ham. He walks back over to the bar counter so then Steven can see.  _ Maybe I can teach him to cook. Or see if he’ll pick up what I do. What about my meds? How can I take them with him watching? _ Twoie starts to hum a tune while in thought. A tune that Steven doesn’t know.

“Steven? How many eggs do you want?” Steven looks at Twoie and then the eggs. Sure Steven can use the grill and microwave, but the stove? This was something he wanted to see. He then thinks for a moment.

“Three?” Twoie looks at him and then shrugs with a quirked smile.

“Alright.” Twoie then grabs a bowl and cracks five eggs. He shows Steven.

“Look, Steven. Before adding any topping in the eggs, you have to make sure that there are no shell pieces.” Steven peers into the bowl and sees that there aren’t any shells. Twoie frowns as he couldn’t find any greens in the fridge.  _ I’ll have to go and buy some while I’m here. _ He then grabs a fork and sets it down next to Steven. Steven looks at him in confusion while he grabs the bowl of eggs, cheese, and milk. Twoie then sits down next to Steven. He uncaps the milk and pours two cap-fulls into the bowl and adds a tad bit of cheese. 

“Steven, look at how I scramble the eggs. You tilt the bowl like this and don’t whisk the eggs too fast. That’s how it ends up everywhere.” 

Steven watches as Twoie takes the fork and makes quick small motions. Twoie holds the bowl at an angle so the eggs won’t spill, but they aren’t level. He watches as Twoie then scrapes at the bowl and continues to whisk. Then Twoie stops whisking and hands the bowl with the fork to Steven. Steven looks questionably at Twoie and Twoie nods his head at him. Again, as a force of habit, Twoie nudges his bangs out of his face.

“Try.” And with that Steven gently grabs the fork and bowl. Twoie adjusts his hold on the items and then gives a small smile. “Go ahead.” 

Steven starts to mimic the actions from Twoie until he stops. Steven looks up at Twoie and Twoie takes the bowl back with a thank you. He walks back to the stove and places the bowl down. Then goes into the fridge and grabs the butter, and with a knife, he grabs a small amount and puts it in the pan. Twoie puts the butter back in the fridge and with his leg, he pulls the small step stool towards the stove and looks at Steven. Steven gets off his chair and walks over to the stove. He watches in fascination as Twoie spreads the butter around the pan. Then Twoie looks at Steven and smiles as Steven looks in fascination and excitement as Twoie pours the eggs into the pan and sizzles are heard. 

Twoie then takes the small spatula that is suddenly in his hands and starts to scrape at the eggs making fluffy scrambled eggs in front of Steven’s eyes. Twoie, before Steven, notices that his hands are trembling noticeably, but it was just slightly noticeable. As Twoie reached for the bowls that Steven had grabbed earlier, Steven sees Twoie’s hands trembling. He doesn’t think much of it as Twoie hands him a bowl.

“Alright, Steven. Do you want ham in your eggs?” Steven looks at the ham that is sitting there and nods. Twoie nods and smiles a genuine smile, “Alrighty then. Hold your bowl out.”

Steven does as he’s told and Twoie lifts the pan and scrapes some of the eggs into the bowl. “Is that enough or do you want more?” Steven shakes his head. And goes to the bar counter and sits down. Twoie then scrapes the rest of the eggs into his bowl and sits down. Steven watches as he grabs the small container of ham and takes a piece out. Twoie takes Steven’s bowl and tears the ham into smaller pieces and scatters them around the eggs. Then he pushes the bowl back to Steven. Then he finally brushes his bangs behind his ear another time, huffing as he does.

“Eat up! Then we can go see Dad.” Twoie then starts to eat his eggs, so Steven started to eat them as well. As soon as he took his first bite, Steven’s eyes light up. 

“Woah! These are really good!” Twoie's cheeks flush red at the compliments and he rubs the back of his neck as Steven starts to eat the rest of his eggs at a faster pace. 

“Thanks. I mean, once you start cooking for yourself you start to really get to know what you would like.”

He looks away as he starts to eat his eggs again, still a little red in the cheeks. Then he reaches into his back jean pocket and grabs the three small pills that he had ready. He usually does this so then his dad won’t see the pill bottles. No matter what his dad thinks, he’ll always be a tad bit ashamed of him seeing them. He grabs them and holds them for a moment as he checks to make sure that Steven isn’t paying attention. When he is sure, he slips the pills into his eggs and swallows them with his eggs. 

However, the action of him putting something into his eggs didn’t go unnoticed. Steven puts his bowl down and looks at Twoie. “Hey, Twoie? What was that that you put in your eggs? Was it something good?” Steven watches as Twoie’s eyes go wide and he seems to choke for a moment. He pounds on his chest for a moment and then swallows. 

“W-what? Oh. It was nothing.” Steven raises an eyebrow and shrugs it off. 

However, the rest of the time they were eating, he kept a closer eye on Twoie. As soon as Twoie is done with his food, he gets up and starts to wash the dishes. Steven decides that it’s the perfect moment to start small talk.

“Hey, Twoie?” 

“Hm? You need something?”

“I just want to know things about the future. So could you tell me some more about it?” Twoie stops washing the dishes for a moment and his shoulders tense and relax for a moment.

“Sure, only things that don’t harm the future. So go ahead and ask away I guess.”

“Okay! Um… Do I ever become a real Crystal Gem?” 

Twoie stops moving for a moment and puts the pan in the dishrack. He turns to Steven with a horrified facial expression and his eyes are filled with tears. Steven is taken aback by this and his hope starts to drop. “W-what’s that face for?” He stands up and walks into the kitchen with his now-empty bowl. He puts it in the sink and stares up at Twoie.

“Steven…” Twoie’s heart breaks at the first question. Steven takes the tone of his voice the wrong way. 

“I knew it. I messed up so badly that I won’t become a crystal gem. I always mess things up.” 

Steven starts to cry as he grips the shirt right above his gem. Twoie, who is already crying, rushes to lift him up. Twoie hurries to lift him and hold him close. Steven grabs onto Twoie as tight as he can and Twoie holds him tighter. As Steven cries, Twoie holds him and goes outside. Twoie looks around before jumping as high as he can. Which was to the top of the Obsidian statue, and then proceeded to jump one more time. As Twoie starts to float just a bit above the clouds, he lays on his back and moves Steven to his stomach. He hopes this would work for younger him as it did at the beginning for him as well. He holds Steven tightly and then lets his arms loosely hold onto Steven.

“Oh, Steven! You are the heart of the gems! You are perfect the way you are! I hope that you understand this.” Steven looks up at Twoie and Twoie wipes his eyes of tears. He wraps his arms around Steven again. “Everything on this Earth grows and changes. We are human as well, making it alright for us to make mistakes. We learn and grow from them.” 

Steven tears up again, “But it was my fault!” Twoie softly smiles at him and presses Steven’s head into his chest.

“No, it wasn’t. Steven, you are so strong. You may not know what I mean right now, but you are so strong in a real way. Don’t ever forget that.” Steven, although he can hear Twoie talking, some of it isn’t processing and Twoie can see the smaller scale of what Dr. Bree had to talk him out of every now and then. He sits up and puts Steven on his lap facing him. To be safe, he holds onto him as well. Steven grasps Twoie’s arms as Twoie looks at him in worry. 

“Steven, Can you hear me clearly?” A small nod. “Alright. I want you to do what I do. Okay?” Another nod. “Breath in. Hold it! Hold it for just a second longer… and now let it out. Let’s do it again.” Twoie talks Steven through this two more times before Steven calms down. Twoie finishes with a tight hug. Steven gladly returns the hug before noticing that they aren’t on the ground. And all of the energy and excitement come flooding back to the little boy.

“Woah. What?! Are we in the air?!” Twoie chuckles at his response and nods.

“The dishes can wait. Wanna go to the Big Donut for something to bring to dad? I need a coffee, and maybe we can get you an apple juice.” Steven nods and they start to float down quicker. Steven watches the town in awe as Twoie picks him up from his stomach and moves him to his back. “Hold on!” Steven grabs on tighter as Twoie increases their descent to the ground while putting a small wall up in the sky. He lands on the wall and pushes off of it at an angle that would cause them to get closer to the donut shop without being seen.

Once they touch the ground, Twoie takes Steven’s hand and they start making their way to the Big Donut. “Steven, if you ever need to talk about anything, you can talk to me. Alright?” Steven nods in confusion. He knew that Twoie was hinting at something that would come to happen, but he said it so cryptically. “Hybrids?” Steven looks at Twoie to see him holding up a fist for a fist bump. He smiles and completes the fist bump, “Hybrids!” With that, they made their way into the donut shop.

“Oh hey, Steven! Who’s your friend?” Sadie looks from Steven to Twoie and the two start to sweat. Twoie takes the lead into introducing himself.

“Hey! You must be Sadie! Steven has told me a lot about you! It’s nice to see that he’s making friends. I’m Steven’s older brother! Just call me Twoie.” Sadie looks at Steven and he nods with a smile.

“Oh! I always thought that Steven was an only child. And he never said anything about you so I just assumed. But it’s nice to meet you uh… Twoie!” She shakes his hand and he smiles at her. “So! What can I get you two?” 

“A black coffee for me, thank you.”

“An apple juice for me, please!”

“And a half a dozen donuts.” 

Sadie smiles as Steven puts the can of apple juice on the counter as Twoie pulls out his wallet. Sadie puts the donuts on the counter and pours a cup of coffee on the counter with a lid on it. As Twoie goes to pay, Sadie smiles and puts her hand up.

“No! It’s on the house. Think of it as a greeting and a welcoming to Beach City.” Twoie stops.

“Are you sure?” Sadie smiles and nods. Then Twoie grins. “Well, thank you. But that doesn’t stop me from leaving a large tip! And before you try and say no, think of it as a thank you for being so kind to Steven.” Twoie shoves a ten-dollar bill into the tip jar and with that, he grabs the bag in one hand and holds Steven under his other arm. Steven holding his apple juice and Twoie’s coffee. And they left with smiles and laughter.

As soon as they get to the car wash, Twoie stops walking and puts Steven down with a blank expression. Steven notices. “Twoie? Are you okay?” He looks at Steven and nods. Steven sends him a comforting smile and knocks on the van door.

“Dad? Hey, Dad! I have someone you might want to meet!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Sadie knows them as brothers and there was a soft pain there. Nothing that brotherly love couldn't help.


	4. Meeting my dad? Your dad? Our dad? Meeting dad.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg meets Twoie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, let's just hope that Greg's poor heart can handle meeting his 'second' son.

Third Person POV:

Steven knocks on the van door while Twoie kinda stands off to the side with the donuts drinking his coffee. As he drinks his coffee his nerves start to rise a bit. The buzzing he has been putting out of mind comes back louder as his thoughts swarm around him. The dark goop of his emotions starts to cover his body, and the whispers of doubt lick his face. He tries to focus on the hot liquid in his hand and licks his lips. Suddenly, when his finger twitches, he starts the strange nervous tic he does when he has coffee. Take a sip and then lick his lips; take a sip and lick his lips; take a sip and lick his lips; take a- oh. He turns the cup upside down and shakes it for a moment, only to realize his cup is empty. The buzzing quiets for a moment, along with the whispers. For a moment, he’s calm and he licks his lips one last time before looking up to see Steven and his dad staring at him. He freezes while holding the cup upside down just looking at them. The buzzing, the darkness, and whispers come back full force but his embarrassment overpowers the anxiety. Steven gives him a raised eyebrow and his dad looks shocked and confused.

He flushes and gulps down the ball of worries stuck in his throat. With a small wheezy chuckle, he forces out a small “What?” 

“Steven?”

“Uhhhhh… Heeeeeey dad! We brought donuts!” Twoie awkwardly states as he lifts the empty coffee cup, that is still upside down and the bag of donuts above his head. 

Greg looks from Twoie to Steven, and then back to Twoie. As Twoie starts to walk closer, Greg takes a step or two back. Twoie notes this and puts the donuts down. Steven looks at him with worry, while Twoie strains his smile. Tears prick Twoie’s eyes in hurt and pain as he smiles. He rubs the back of his neck.

“Um, coffee… Steven, I’m going to get it… Some more coffee, I mean. Um… I’ll be back.” Twoie quickly walks away before Steven can call out to him. 

As he walks away, he hunches his shoulders and seems to be more closed off than before. Steven walks up to where he put the donuts and looked in worry at Twoie’s fleeing figure. Then he turns to his dad, who is staring at him. Greg puts a hand behind his head.

“Steven? Is this some gem thing? I know you said that that’s you from the future, but I don’t know. I think I need to sit down.”

Greg sits down and Steven sits down right next to him and opens the bag of donuts. “We brought donuts for you.” Greg grabs the bag with thanks.

“Steven, what do you think about the future you? I'm not so good about gem stuff, but it seems that you know him better.” Greg looks to his son while munching on his donut. Steven looks up from his lap to his dad with a troubled facial expression.

“I don’t know dad. I mean, he seems nice. He even made me eggs this morning! But… He seems so sad. I'm a bit nervous to end up that way, you know? So far, I've only seen him really smile at least once. The other times they seem stressed." 

Greg stops for a moment. He looks at Steven in worry. He had also noticed that Twoie seemed to have a closed-off aura around him when he was walking away. He thinks for a second. Then spots Twoie coming back with another cup of coffee and his hair now in a lazy bun. Twoie waves at them with a small yawn and Steven runs over to him with a big smile. Twoie grins and Greg walks over to them. Twoie stops walking as Greg closes the distance. Twoie looks at Greg with an unreadable look on his face. 

"So… You're Stu-ball from the future. Look at you! You're all grown up!" Greg tears up as he puts his hand on Twoie's cheek and rubs his cheek with his thumb. Just like he would when Steven was three and would have ice-cream on his face. Greg’s few tears in his eyes flow down his face in pride of how he grew up to look so handsome. "You're so tall. And you have wonderful hair!" 

Steven looks at Twoie and sees that the hand holding his coffee was shaking. So he grabs the coffee and Twoie starts to tear up with a wet, wobbly smile. His smile wobbles as the few tears in his eyes build up and start to spill over. Steven and Greg start to wonder why he's acting this way while Twoie is looking at Greg's hair. 

"D-dad. Your hair is beautiful too."

And with that Twoie grabs Greg from under his arms, and hugs him as tight as he can. Twoie's warm tears flow down his face just slightly, and Greg holds his son. Steven puts the cup of coffee down in the van and walks over to Greg and Twoie. Twoie sees Steven and holds his dad in one hand and Steven in the other for a long group hug. After a moment, Twoie puts them down and they head to the van just to hang out and talk. Twoie sits on the ground while Steven and Greg sit in the Van. Steven hands the coffee back to Twoie. 

"Wait, so why did you act that way? Steven, I mean Twoie, does something happen to me? Do I die in the future?" Twoie chokes on the gulp of coffee he had just taken. He coughs for a moment before shaking his head. 

"What?! No! No. It's just been a few years since I've seen your hair. I mean, it did get cut pretty short." With that comment, Steven and Greg's eyes go wide. "Here I have a picture."

Twoie reaches into his front pocket and pulls out his phone. He types in his short password and then goes to his gallery. Steven and Greg watch as he scrolls through pictures of scenery, plants, and papers with writing that they don't know. Until Twoie hits an image with an 'aha' and the image becomes clear. The two look at the photo in confusion, horror, and hope. It seems to be something close to a family photo. There was Twoie in the middle with a big smile and holding up a peace sign. On the left, there is Amethyst and Pearl in completely different outfits. And on the right is Garnet, a short green gem, and a blue gem floating in the air with water wings. Then behind Twoie is another gem with rainbow hair, her hand on Pearl’s shoulder. Then sitting on the beach right in front of Twoie is Greg with short hair. But what is really confusing is the fact that the camera is being held by the long arms of a pink gem. Her ponytails are defying gravity and she's smiling. 

"See?" Greg holds his hair in his hands and Steven looks at it. Before either of them can ask Twoie just looks at the picture, “Just don’t trust bluebird or at least don’t show her any horror films and you should be good.” Steven nods, while it seems that Greg is in shock. He seems to not have heard what Twoie had said, but neither sons noticed. Twoie smiles at Steven, when it dawns on him. “Hey, Steven? You never asked all the questions I assume you still have.”

Steven perks up, “Oh right!”

“You still wanna ask them?” Steven nods as Greg starts to tune back in their conversation.

“Okay. So I know that you can’t talk about any big moments. Is there something to look forward to though?” 

Twoie tenses for a moment before getting a cheeky smile. “Yeah. For one, being taller is much more fun. Another thing is the jam I make fresh from my strawberry plants. And Berry…” With that last one, his face falls. Then his eyes comically shoot open. “Shhhh-” a quick glance at Steven and his dad, “-oot. Berry is gonna kill me when I get back!” Steven looks confused by who he calls Berry, while Greg catches onto the almost cuss. Greg looks at him and Twoie rubs the back of his head sheepishly. Then he relaxes back onto the ground, “Ehh. That’s a problem for future me.”

“Uh… Okay. Wait so you have a farm?!” 

Twoie grins, “Yup. Right outside my house. I’ve got strawberries, watermelon, pumpkins, an orange tree, a cherry tree, and some other wild berries.”

Greg and Steven both look impressed. “Cool! So, we’re still friends with Connie, right?” Twoie stops for a moment. He cheeks become a soft red as he nods.

“Y-yeah! We’re still friends!” Greg catches on quickly and shoots Twoie a look. Twoie catches the look and starts to sweat a bit with even redder cheeks. “She helps me every now and then.”

“Do we ever master Shapeshifting? I really want to become a cat, just like Amethyst can!” Twoie grimaces as he thinks about it.

“Here’s the thing, Steven. After… an incident?… I haven’t practiced it. I mean, I hardly use my powers anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll use them. However, not as much. Plus that cat thing scared me. So I haven’t really practiced it.” Greg sighs in relief.

“What? Why not?!” Twoie looks down and taps his lip as he thinks for a moment. He looks back to Steven and then places a hand on his knee.

“Steven, we’re half-human. Or half-organic. Our bodies aren’t completely made of light like the others. It could be something else, but we at  _ least _ have a skeleton. So the last time I shapeshifted, it really hurt for me. I don’t remember much of it. I only remember the amount of pain I was in at the beginning, and not much after.” Twoie explains as he rubs his arm. Steven looks down trying to process the information. Most of it doesn’t make much sense, and he wants Twoie to explain more. However, one look at Twoie made him reconsider. Greg notes the growing discomfort from his older son.

“Well, Twoie. I might not know much about gem stuff or the future, but if you ever need to talk or vent. I’m right here for you. I’m still your dad, and you’re still my son. You can talk to me. Same goes to you Steven, you might not have as much to talk about, but I’m still here for you.” 

Greg places a hand on Steven’s shoulder and motions for Twoie to come closer. Twoie, close to crying, shuffles closer till he is hugging the two of them. He just sits there for a moment letting himself feel found by his dad.  _ Just like from my time. _ His wide eyes stare at nothing as he hugs them tighter, and slowly the warm fat tears make their trails down his face. He murmurs a soft and quiet ‘thank you’ as he stays there. The usual loud buzzing quiets for a moment and all the fear he felt melts away. And Towie's thoughts aren't as loud. He feels safe. He can feel the shield his dad gives him even if he isn’t magic.  _ Even if it’s just for today, I still feel found. He’s here and will be there for me to lean on. So I’ll be there for Steven. Even if he thinks he won’t need it. _ He lets them go as his tears dry. Twoie pulls away from the hug and to his surprise, he sees the two of them in tears as well. Steven looks at his dad.


	5. Jean jackets, coffee, and Cookie cats!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first two other Twoies join the party!

Third Person POV:

“Thanks, dad. I’ll be sure to go to you more to talk and hang out now. I’m sure we’ll have a blast!” Steven smiles as he states this.

With that one comment, Twoie glows a faint magenta color. They look at him in shock, and he backs up in fear. _No! I haven’t done anything this time! I’m happy! Why am I glowing?! Wait! Calm_ _down. This isn’t the normal glowing issue._

“Twoie?” Twoie’s blood runs cold as he remembers Steven coming close and his fear spikes again.

Twoie snaps his head up from his hands to see Steven coming towards him. “Don’t come any closer to me, Steven! I don’t know what’s happening!” With that, he starts to float up into the sky. Twoie fruitlessly tries to claw his way back to the ground. Instantaneously, Twoie was pulled through a portal and disappeared.

“Twoie? Twoie!” 

Steven looks around desperately to try and see where Twoie went. Only to come up empty-handed. As Steven runs back to his dad to give him a hug, a pop is heard. Steven turns around and looks up to see a similar portal to the one that Twoie came from in the air. Steven looks at it as a distant yell could be heard coming from it. As the yell gets closer and closer, a shadow forms over the portal. This confused Steven, was Twoie coming back? Why is he coming back in a different way than when he arrived? 

Then with another short yell, a figure fell out of the portal. With a thud and an ‘oof’ coming from the figure, they face-planted onto the ground. Steven observes that they have a small blue glow for a moment, and then it’s gone. He glances at their clothing and notes that he is wearing a jean jacket, red sneakers, and jeans. They have short curly black hair as well and seem to be just as tall as Twoie. 

“Ow. That hurt.” The figure lifts his head from the ground and rubs his nose as his shades fall back over his eyes. “Huh? What’s this?” The figure, not noticing Steven or Greg yet, looks at his hand to notice a small number two in blue ink. Then he looks up and around until his eyes land on Steven. “What in the stars?” Greg looks the boy over and sees that he looks almost like Twoie, just in different clothes and with shorter hair. Steven runs over to him and hugs his leg.

“Twoie! You’re back! Where did you go? You just floated into a portal and disappeared for a few moments. Now you’re back in completely different clothing!” This ‘Twoie’ Looks down at the boy in confusion for a moment. The only telling of this was the way his mouth quirked up and how his eyebrows furrowed.

“Who’s this Towie? I’m not him, I’m Steven Universe! And it seems that I might be back in the past?… Oh boy… I mean, that’s alright I guess. Hmm… Hey little me, can you explain what happened up to now?” Steven looks up at him in confusion and then nods.

After a good twenty minutes of explaining to this Twoie, he nods his head in understanding. “So there was another me watching you since this morning, and then once you mentioned talking and hanging out with dad more. He got sucked into a portal and I came out?” Steven nods, “And you call him Twoie?” Steven nods again and this Twoie huffs out a loud laugh. With a smile, he turns to Steven, “well he already has a name to be used around you then, why not give me a different one so then you can tell the difference?”

Greg steps up, “How about Denim? You know, cause of the jacket?” Steven smiles and ‘Denim’ smiles at the two of them. He laughs for a moment.

“Denim? Alright, sure I guess, I mean. Once my pink one got too worn out, you gave me this one dad. So I think it’s ‘fitting.’” With that joke, they all laugh as Denim pulls on his jacket. 

Steven notes that this Twoie seems a lot happier than the first one he met. But that won’t make him love Twoie any less. Denim and Greg start talking while Steven sits there in his thoughts.  _ Are there any other versions of Twoie? How many are there? _

“Denim?” He turns to Steven.

“Yeah?”

“How come you’re so much happier than the other Twoie we met?” 

Denim thinks for a moment. Then he shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I went to Therapy? Maybe he didn’t? It’s hard to say.”

“Therapy?! Isn’t that somewhere that people go to get fixed when they’re broken?! I don’t wanna go there!” 

As Steven panics, Denim tries to calm him. Only for him to notice the light coming off of him. “This can’t be good.” With that one line out of Denim’s mouth, he- like Twoie- floats up to the sky. Only to be sucked back into another portal and another figure spat back out. 

This time it’s a Twoie that they know. As he sits back up, Steven and Greg see that he has two swirls in his eyes as he clutches his head. He sits up and his long curly hair is messier than the last time they saw him. He sits back up.

“Ugh… I shouldn’t have drunk that coffee.” He then runs past Steven and tries to make it to a trash can. 

He doesn’t make it. 

Twoie pukes on the ground as Greg and Steven rush over to him. Greg holds back his hair so it wouldn’t be puked on. While Steven rubbed circles on the part of Twoie’s back he could reach. Once he was done puking he turned to Steven.

“What happened?” Steven shrugs for a moment.

“I don’t know. One moment, we were talking with dad. Then you glowed and flew into a portal, and a different version of you came out! He already had a two on his hand, we call him Denim so we don’t confuse the two of you. Then, we filled him in on what happened cause he didn’t know. And then I asked him why he is different from you and he said something about therapy and I freaked out. Then he was sucked into a portal and you were thrown out!”

Twoie has a done look on his face and his hair still is frazzled. He looks to Greg who nods and hands him the small cup of water that he got for him. Twoie chugs it and then sighs and rubs his eyes. “Well, that would explain who that was when I was going through the portal.”

“So where were you exactly?” Twoie turns to Greg and shrugs.

“I’m not completely sure. I landed in this weird house. It was like my house, but it had more rooms. All of them were locked except one that said ‘Twoie’ on it. There was another room for the other one called Denim. But what is this about therapy?” Twoie looks between Steven and Greg. Greg sighs and pats the ground next to the van as he sits down. Steven sits down next to Twoie.

“So Denim said something about him going to therapy. Did you?”

Twoie sighs and slumps his shoulders. “I mean, yeah. I’m in therapy, and it is working but not very well. So I usually try to talk to my therapist once a week, and mainly talk to Pearl, you, ‘Neil, and a few other friends as well. Well-” 

Steven tunes out at this point. Who are these other friends that Twoie has? Other gems? Human friends? He isn’t very sure. What about Connie? Doesn’t he talk to her about whatever he’s in therapy for? And if he is in therapy, does that mean that it isn’t as bad as he thinks it is? So many questions! But, he doesn’t want to make Twoie upset or uncomfortable. 

Steven tunes back in, only to catch the tail end of the conversation, “-So I’m good for now.”

Then Greg and Twoie turn to look at Steven. Twoie smiles and hugs Steven. “So what do you want to do now little me?” Steven thinks for a moment.

“Let’s go prank people! Yeah! It’ll be fun!”

Twoie chuckles and smiles softly at Steven. “Sure. Le- uh oh.” Twoie glows for the second time and starts to float up again. “Not again!” and in a flash, he is gone for the second time. Steven looks around in confusion.  _ What did I say this time? _ Once that thought crossed his mind, a figure in a weird outfit fell out of another portal. The figure quickly gets up.

“Hey! What’s the bright idea Spinel? Mew don’t- what?” The figure stops dusting himself off as he looks around. His eyes land on Steven, “What the hell? Okay! Furry funny Spinel! Come on out meow! Funny prank! Haha! See? I’m laughing, so mew can come out!” 

As the figure is yelling out for someone called Spinel, Steven looks at Greg, and Greg looks at Steven. They both shrug. The figure has tanner skin than the other two have, and he is shorter than them also. Just about the same height as Pearl. His hair is curlier and split in half. Half pink and half black. His outfit is a sweat jacket with pink and black stripes on the sleeves. His shirt is a solid black color. While his pants are black and white striped. His shoes aren’t flip flops or sneakers like the other two but are short boots with heels. He has two small cat-like ears poking out at the top of his head; one is pink and the other white. Steven noted from the brief glance at his face that he has two red swirls on his cheeks and pink eyeshadow on one eye and white on the other. 

“Hello? Other Twoie?”

This Twoie quickly turned around and as soon as he saw Greg, his eyes widen. “No. No! Spinel! This is too fucking far for a prank! Mew know dad is a sensitive topic!” Steven looks at his Dad as this Twoie is starting to become more upset. Twoie’s ears flatten against his head. Greg tries to help him.

“Steven? Is that you?” The Twoie stops and tears fill his eyes for a moment. He smiles and looks at Steven.

“This isn’t a prank… I’m in the past. Arent’ I?” He takes a step to them and then sprints to Greg. “Dad!” He hugs him tight and doesn’t let go for a minute. Then he looks at Steven. “Alright then. Paw-don me for fur-getting to introduce myself.” Silence as the puns don’t completely click. “...Meow-ving on. It’s a fur-tunate time to introduce myself right meow! I’m Steven Universe, as mew noes, but mew can call me Trickster!”

Steven starts to laugh, “Nice cat puns!”

Trickster perks up as one of his ears twitches, “Thank mew! I like your cattitude! Meow, what’s all this about?” Steven and Greg sigh as they sit down again. 

After explaining everything, Trickster sits there for a moment. “Huh… Alright, I think I get it meow- er now. Sorry, I usually talk in puns.”

Steven smiles at him, “I don’t mind! I love puns!” 

Twoie barks out a laugh and smiles. Then he turns to Greg and gives him a hug. “Furr real though, it’s nice to see mew again dad. It’s been a while.” 

Greg gives the two of them one last hug before he waves them goodbye. Trickster then turns to Steven as they start the walk back to the temple, “Alrighty then! What time is it?” 

Steven pulls out his phone and then looks back up at Trickster, “It’s 10:52.” Trickster grins. 

“It’s cookie cat time, my dude!” He shouts as he jumps up into the air and lands in front of Steven.

Steven gasps as he thought he had eaten all of the cookie cats left. “You know where to find more?!” Trickster shakes his head and Steven’s excitement turns to confusion, “Then why is it cookie cat time?”

“Maybe, there’s a pawsibility that I know how to make them! And keep some in my pocket!”

“There are some homemade cookie cats in your pocket?!”

Trickster slyly grins at Steven, “Purrhaps.” His ear twitches and he pulls out a cookie cat from his pocket. “Here mew go!”

He hands Steven a vanilla and Strawberry one from his pocket. Steven gasps as it looks just like the ones he used to eat. Steven looks up at Trickster as he pulls another out from his sleeve. This one is a bit bigger with chocolate and Strawberry ice-cream instead. With a smile also carved into its face. As they get closer to the temple, Trickster sits on the sand and eats his cookie cat. Steven starts to eat the ears first, and he notices the Trickster goes for the ears as well. As they eat the cookie cats, there is a silence between them. However, it isn’t an uncomfortable one. Once they are done, Trickster and Steven stand up and dust themselves off. Then when Steven wasn’t paying attention, Trickster grabs him and carries him the rest of the way under his arm. Once, they get back to the temple Twoie puts Steven down as he opens the door. Only to see Lion sitting in the living room waiting for Steven. 

“Lion! Oh, my cats! Lion!”

Trickster runs over to Lion and hugs him tightly. Then he jumps into his mane and runs around for a moment before jumping back out. Lion sees Trickster and rests his head in between Trickster’s own ears with a soft growl. Steven then runs over as well. The two boys run around Lion as Lion watches them. After a while Trickster and Steven stop and collapse onto Lion.

“I love Lion a lot!” Trickster looks over to Steven. 

“Purrty sure, that's the reason I have lion ears. I love Lion, so I found a way to purmently change my ears from normal to cat. Hurt a lot, but it was worth it!”

Steven looks at his ears and then softly frowns.  _ If it hurt I don’t think I would like to change my ears. I like this one, but I think the other Twoie’s as well. Also, it doesn’t seem like this Twoie is as happy either. _ As soon as Steven comes to the realization that he likes this Twoie but doesn’t quite want to turn out like him, there is a pink and white glow around Trickster. Steven blinks and it was Twoie back there instead of Trickster. Steven yelps in surprise while Twoie looks around in confusion. 

“Wait. I was just talking to Denim… Steven?” Steven hugs Twoie. And Twoie hugs back. “So, what happened this time?” Twoie leans into Lion as Steven tells him about Trickster. “Really? Huh. you know Steven, I think that you’re the reason for all of these Twoies like me. What you choose to do or say, may change your future, but don’t be scared. We’re here to help you. Anyways, I’m pretty tired so let’s take a nap.”

Steven shoots up, “Oh! Oh! Wait! Before you sleep let me make something!” Steven rushes to grab the extra blankets and pillows he has. Twoie watches for a moment as Steven keeps running back and forth from one side of the house to the other, and then his eyes start to droop. 

A few moments later, he’s woken up from his dreamless sleep by Steven’s gentle shakes. “Steven? What is it?” Twoie asks as he looks at the fort right in front of him. It’s off to the side, so it isn’t in the way, but it’s big enough to fit Twoie. Steven looks up at the sleepy Twoie and pulls him into it, “It’s a sadness nest! I got the idea from when Amethyst did it once. It’s where you can go if you’re feeling upset or sad.”

Twoie looks down at Steven. Thankful for the kindness the boy is showing him even without knowing him well. Twoie needed this act of kindness, and he needed the nest. He smiles at Steven as he lays down and then motions his hand for Steven to come in as well. As soon as Steven gets close enough, Twoie grabs him and holds on to him. Twoie had felt the dark goo try to cling onto both of them. So when he grabbed Steven, he felt as if he was pulling him away from the goo.

“Thank you, Steven. It’s perfect.”

With that, Twoie drifts back to sleep with his tears still in his lashes. Steven smiles and yawns tiredly from what just happened this morning. Soon, he follows Twoie’s example and falls asleep. Steven grabs onto Twoie’s jacket and moves onto Twoie’s stomach from the floor. Little did Steven know that he was the shining sun keeping the goo away from Twoie. And as they slept, Lion got up and moved to in front of the nest. As if he is protecting the two in their safe place and that is exactly what he plans to do. With that, Lion lays his head on his paws and closes his eyes for a nap as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer, but now we have two more Twoies to add to the party! Denim is apart of the actual list of Twoies, but I added Trickster since when I saw him I grew attached to him. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	6. What are dreams good for?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Twoie and Steven nap, Twoie dreams become a show.

Third Person POV:

“Garnet! We need to find them! Steven could be in danger!” Pearl grips her spear tighter as the gems start walking back to the temple. 

“Pearl, chill. Twoie seems to be trustworthy! He does seem like he comes from the future, and he  _ does _ have Steven’s gem. We all saw when he fell from that portal for the second time. It’s just Steven when he’s older!” Amethyst argues as she looks up from the ground and Pearl opens her mouth to argue.

“Pearl. You just have to trust him. We followed them all morning and he seems to only really care for Steven. He also has Rose’s power to control how fast he falls.”

Amethyst looks at Garnet in confusion, “Yeah, but why did he have to do that with Steven? He scared all of us.” 

Garnet frowns, “Maybe that’s how he calms himself down. They both looked rather upset.” She puts a hand to her waist as she adjusts her shades with a soft hum.

Pearl huffs and continues to walk to the temple, “Well it doesn’t matter. He might have hurt Steven! And what about those other Twoies? Are they truly Twoie?” Amethyst shrugs and looks to the temple.

As they arrive back at the door there still isn’t any of the two. The gems had followed them back to the beach but then decided to wait since they weren’t moving after sitting down for a bit. As they go inside the house part of the temple, they only see Lion. Nothing else is out of order other than Lion in the house. It isn’t until Lion turns his head did they notice that there was a small tent in the house. Amethyst walks up to the opening and notices that the two of them are asleep. She notices the tears on Twoie’s face and then the meaning of the fort/ nest hits her. She smiles as she lets them sleep. She walks over to the other two and smiles.

“They’re asleep right now. Napping in a sad nest.” Amethyst’s smile then turns to a small frown.  _ Why would Steven make a sad nest? He did seem that sad when we were watching them. He did cry a lot, but he isn’t that sad, right? What about Twoie? Was this nest for him? _

As everyone starts to do their own thing, the T.V. in Steven’s room starts to act up. The gems go quickly and quietly up to Steven’s room to see what is going on. As they pass the small nest, they hear small snores from both and then smaller sounds from one of them. Once they get up to Steven’s room and the T.V. they notice it’s on. When did it turn on? They came home and nothing was on. They go to turn it off when they hear laughter. Garnet then places her hands on Pearl and Amethyst’s shoulders and forces them to sit down on the bed.

They watch as the screen changes from the beach to a grassy cliffside. The camera looks down to feet in red sandals and then quickly shifts to a small town in the distance. The camera moves as if someone is running and soft pants along with laughter are heard. The camera slows down when they get closer to the small town. As the camera passes a window a figure also runs past the window. The camera backs up and they see Twoie look into the mirror with a smile they haven’t seen yet. He pulls his bangs behind his ear and fluffs his ponytail a bit. He also adjusts his jacket on top of a blue shirt with a yellow star like the red one Steven wears.

They look in surprise as they notice that his hair isn’t as long as they’ve seen. From there he keeps running into the small city. The gems watch with hope as Twoie passes by gems that have corruption scars, waving to some as he passes.  _ Is there really a chance to save them? But. Rose couldn’t even do it. _ Then from there, he jumps up and floats down onto a tower. The camera looks up to see a group of gems in the middle of their yoga class led by Garnet. 

“Steven! What are you doing here?” Garnet asks as she is upside down. 

Twoie chuckles and then looks around. He frowns for a moment. “Have you seen Spinel? We were playing Steven tag and now it’s like hiding and Steven tag? I haven’t found her yet.”

Garnet chuckles and then she looks away for a moment. She smirks, “You’ll find her back in the Garden. Take the warp.” 

The gems look at each other in confusion while Garnet looks at her new form in interest. They hear a small sigh from the T.V. and Twoie starts to talk but it’s cut off by static. The T.V. goes to static for a moment and then they can see Twoie standing in a garden. It’s clean and beautiful. He runs around looking all over for something. He’s smiling as he looks around and every now and then calling out to a Spinel. At one point a pink gem, they assume to be Spinel, starts to follow him from behind in humor. Every time he would turn around she would stretch out of his sight. She started to snicker which made Twoie’s smile even bigger. 

“Oh Spinel! Where are you? Are you here?” 

He suddenly sticks his head in a bush as he shouts. She laughs and he slowly brings his head out of the bush. He then suddenly turns around and tackles Spinel. “Found you and tag!” He laughs out. She laughs as she shapeshifts into Twoie. They laugh for a moment and Twoie sits on the ground. 

“Look! Stevie, I’ve been practicing my impersonation! Ahem. Look, I’m Steven Universe! I have a savior complex coming from all of my trauma.” She stands tall as she looks from Steven to the lake. He chuckles and nods. His smile shrinks and he seems to be forcing it to reach his eyes.

“I push myself into other people’s lives and issues because I don’t know how to live any other way!” She puts a hand around Twoie’s shoulders and he laughs as tears build up in his eyes. His smile seems to be getting bigger as well to the gems’ confusion.

“Haha. Yeah!” The gems look at each other. What’s happening to Twoie? Why is he laughing as something that’s hurting him?

Spinel leans into Steven with a bit of worry but still smiling. “But I can’t stop… Because if I do…”

Twoie’s laugh sounds wet as he forces them out. “Then WHAT AM I ACTUALLY ANY GOOD FOR?!” Twoie’s laughs turn into ugly sobs as Spinel looks at him. She hugs him as tightly as she could. Even wrapping her arms around him four or five times.

“More than you’ll ever know, Steven. More than you’ll ever know.” With the hug, he stops and just stands there for a moment. In the corners of the screen, the gems see a black goo coming closer to them. Then chunks of the plants start to turn to random colors. He then glares at the goo and it shrinks back off-screen. He hugs the gem back and the screen turns to static. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part one of three for Steven and Twoie's nap. Twoie's dreams tend to be mainly memories, so let's hope the gems are ready for them!


	7. Trauma? What's that?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the next part of Twoie's dream that the gems watch and they aren't sure they quite like it. However, it's one of Twoie's favorite things that happened on his birthday.

Third Person POV:

The gems look from the T.V to each other in pure confusion and horror. If this truly is Steven from the future, what has he gone through? They are so lost and confused about what is happening. They then hear a humming from the T.V. and turn their attention back to the T.V. The picture turns to one of the beaches. The ocean goes back and forth as a strum of a guitar is heard. Even if they didn’t know it, this is the last time Twoie touched his guitar for a while. He wanted to feel the strings for one moment, but at this moment, it felt wrong to him. Even, if it sounds beautiful, he doesn’t trust himself to play it without breaking at one point. The beach turns into a liquid mirror as it reflects everything it sees. As the tide goes out a small hum is heard as the camera glances down to the guitar. Footsteps are heard from behind Twoie and he doesn’t look back. 

“Hey.” 

“Hi, Steven. Come back to the house with me. Everyone’s waiting for you.” A voice is heard from behind him. He only hums and strums his guitar in response. He looks out to the mirror sea.

“Someday, somewhere, somehow. You’ll love again. You just need to find someone.” His cheeks turn pink as he sings this and a small soft glow is seen right below the camera.

“Someday, somewhere, somehow. You’ll love again. You just need to find someone.” Both Twoie and the person behind him sing together. The camera quality blurs as tears fall from the camera landing on the guitar and on his lap. The person behind him walks closer and wraps their arms around him. The camera shifts its focus onto the tan arms wrapped around him.

“Someone who treats you/me better. Someone who wants you/me around. Someday, somewhere, somehow. You’re /I’m gonna feel found.” He stops strumming his guitar and holds the hands of the person behind him. Focusing on one as he traces the lines on their palms. His voice wobbles for a moment as he holds on tightly to the other. The camera turns around to see Connie putting her hand on his shoulder as he puts the guitar down on the sand.

“Today, right here, right now. I already feel found.” His voice thick with emotion cracks as she looks directly into the camera. A soft sniffle is heard as they lean in for a hug. A bright light takes up the screen as the camera becomes taller than before. A soft beautiful chuckle is heard from the camera. As a hand rises to the camera to wipe the tears. 

“I’m here. I’m… Here.” is barely heard by how softly said it is. However, anyone could hear the love and patience as well as the sadness and pain in the voice. They are a walking contradiction. While the gems didn’t quite catch onto the fusion, they thought the scene changed. While Garnet knew from the voice itself that they were entirely new. She smiles.  _ It seems that there is someone to look forward to in the future. _

The arms the camera can see wrap themselves Around the figure. Tears fall down and land in the lap of this figure as the black wavy hair falls over their shoulder. “Steven…” The voice is soft and loving. “You must be nervous about how we feel so much. But don’t worry. We all still love you the same. We will take care of you, just like you took care of us. You don’t have to worry anymore.” The gems are confused about what’s happening since they only seem to have half a picture. They watch as the figure’s posture goes from relaxed and open to closed off and scared.

“It’s hard to talk about, though! I know I can talk to you guys, but… I just can’t... There hasn’t been anyone like this. I’m… Me. The only of my kind! And you know the rest. Rose- um. Mom… Told me to watch them. To take care of them. I just feel like I can’t talk to people, and I’m sorry.” A deep voice rang out. Clearly Twoie’s, but he couldn’t be seen on screen. The figure relaxes a bit.

“Yes, it will be hard to talk for a while. But we can get through this, Yes, you are the first of your kind, but look at what you have done! It’s okay to feel this way. It’s gonna hurt for a while and I know you don’t want to scare or worry us. But you have me and I’m here for you. You’re here and I’m here. We’re here… Together.”

Silence follows as the camera watches the tide come in and out. Every now and then, reflecting something new. Homeworld, a duck, jam jars, a yellow star, a sword, and a pink Lion. A soft laugh is heard as the figure stands up.

“Now come one. Everyone is waiting for us. It’s not every day that a gem-human hybrid turns seventeen.” With that, the figure walks away from the beach and ocean. The figure walks up to the direction of the beach house. It was home and he could be normal. There’s a small hum as the figure walks away.

The screen goes into static until it focuses on Twoie standing on the coffee table with a bow in his short hair, it’s as short as it was when he was facing Spinel, but the left side is shaved into the shape of waves. He has a giant smile on his face and a sly glint in his eyes as he brings his hands out from behind him.

“Steven! You aren’t old enough to drink! Where did you get that?!” Pearl squawks as she tries to grab it from Twoie. The past Pearl looks at the future her in shock of her outfit. She notes that it looks like Twoie’s. 

“It’s fine Pearl! This isn’t to drink!” 

He raises it above his head as she tries to grab it. He laughs at everyone’s shocked face, very noticeably not answering the question of where he had gotten it. He then jumps off the table and runs outside with everyone behind him. The past gems notice gems they haven’t seen before in their group as well. He runs onto the beach and then turns to Connie.

“Berry! Are you ready with the camera?” 

Connie comes into the frame holding Steven’s phone and she nods. “Ready!”

“Steven?! What are you doing?!” Pearl is running as fast as she can to catch up to them. Twoie puts up a wall between the gems and him.

“Just watch! It’s gonna be good!” He then turns to Connie with a worried expression, “Are you sure you don’t wanna be behind a wall as well? It might be dangerous Berry.” She shakes her head and holds the camera up and hits the record button. 

He smiles and looks at the phone. “Alright! So, I’m Steven, as you know. And I’m here to show you what to do if you have childhood trauma! First, get a glass bottle! They won’t break down for a million years!” He makes an okay sign at the camera and winks while behind the phone Connie snickers. “Then, you think back on what could be trauma, fill it with a bit of alcohol! Collect it until your bottle is full or you want to get rid of it! When you are ready, bottle it off with a rag!” He pulls a small bit of the rag out of the top of the bottle. Connie starts to chuckle then quickly clears her throat. Twoie puts a hand in his jacket and digs around for a moment and pulls out a small lighter. He flicks the lighter open, “Now is the tricky part!”

“Steven! What are you doing?!” Connie turns to look at everyone’s expressions. She bursts into laughter as everyone looks horrified. He laughs loudly and Connie catches it on camera. The past gems smile at seeing him so happy.

“Hey, I’ve moved out! So I can do what I want!” He then turns back to Connie, “So, as you know, I have at least ten to thirteen years of trauma under my belt. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. And this was the largest bottle I could find! So I have done the first few steps. Now comes the fun part! Lighting the rag on fire!” He takes his lighter and lights the rag on fire.

“Steven! Hurry and throw it!” Connie tells him in between bouts of laughter. He smiles and nods.

“So now we have a molotov cocktail! So throw it out into the ocean!” He makes a bubble around it and throws the bubble out into the ocean. Before it hits the water, the bubble expands and the bottle blows up in the bubble. He waves as the pieces fall into the ocean. “Goodbye, trauma! It wasn’t a nice time knowing you!” Connie and Steven laugh as he puts down the wall. The gems rush over to check on them as a few of them are laughing. Amethyst rushes over to Twoie and gives him a punch on his arm.

“Dude! That was awesome! How do you feel?” She snorts as Pearl fusses over him. He smiles at her and then lets out a laugh so loud it startles them all. As tears flow down his face his smile is still strong.

“It felt great! Even for a moment, it was bliss.” He wipes his eyes, “If only it was that easy. I just really needed that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I laughed while writing this chapter. I saw a comic on Tumblr and that was the reference for this chapter. On another note, I had made a goal to get the first seven chapters out at once before starting a schedule for releasing chapters. I'll shoot for one every Monday and Friday starting tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	8. A birthday to remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie is dreaming of his seventeenth birthday and it's his favorite to remember.

Third Person POV:

The tears keep flowing down his face as he crumbles down to the sand. Everyone looks at each other, not knowing what to do. He stays there in the sand wiping the tears as his smile stays plastered on his face. Connie pushes her way to him and he looks up to her. 

“Steven, are you okay?” She signs while speaking aloud so the others understand what she’s saying to him. He shakes his head no. “Can you talk or hear?” She signs and again he shakes his head. 

“Can’t speak, ears ringing.” is what he finger spells to her and she hums.

“What do you want?” He sniffles as tears start to fill his eyes again. He shakily lifts his hands back up from his lap.

“Garnet. Home.” She nods and stands up as he reaches up to her. 

The past gems are so lost and confused about what just happened and what is happening. Connie huffs out in effort with a small smile and lifts him up. With a little bit of difficulty, she walks over to Garnet and hands him over to her. As he looks at Connie, he motions to his ear and makes a smaller motion. Telling her that he can hear better but the static is still there.

Past Garnet watches with a sad smile as she notes that Twoie clings to her tightly. She nods in acknowledgment as the little boy she loves still holds onto her for support. She understands that Twoie has clearly seen some stuff and that has held it in for far too long. She just hopes that Twoie can lean on her as he does in the future. Maybe this is why he was so teary-eyed when she brought up talking to her about the future.

“Alright biscuit. We’ll go inside now.” He nods as Garnet puts his head on her shoulder and they carry him inside. As they walk into the beach house Connie holds onto his dangling hand while his other hand holds onto Garnet. Twoie traces out a sorry onto her hand and she shakes her head.

“No, Steven. Don’t be sorry. It’s okay.” She squeezes his hand as he frowns and nods his head slowly. Garnet places her free hand on Twoie’s back. She pats his back softly and then rubs comforting circles on his back.

“Steven, it’s okay. We just want you to be okay. You can always talk to us, and if you need to breathe it’s okay. We understand that this takes time and that you need time. You shouldn’t feel bad about us seeing you crumble. You were there for me, and I want to be there for you. And, no. You aren’t overreacting. It’s okay, Steven, it’s okay. Look at it from our perspective, you are letting us in. Letting us know what you feel, and think. You’re getting better right now. You used to shut us out, and now you’ve come so far.” 

She smiles softly while a tear comes from under her visor. Twoie, getting choked up from his emotions, just buries his face into her shoulder with a sniffle. His hand on her back grips her tighter and suddenly it’s a bit harder to breathe. Then, the fat warm tears flow down his face and the lump in his throat unravels just enough for him to breathe. Connie grabs his hand and sends small squeezes. Twoie looks up to see the faces of everyone else looking at him with small smiles and a faint whistling from Those is heard. The gems in the dream seem to know the tune and smile wider. 

The past gems see themselves, Connie, Greg, the Spinel, a Peridot, and a Lapis Lazuli. They wonder when they become a part of the crystal gems. They notice the stars on their outfits. They had thought that Twoie was making a big deal of whatever was bothering him until they heard Garnet reassure him. Then it became a question of was it a genuine reaction or not. They look between each other. Choosing not to think about it as they tune back into whatever is playing on the T.V.

“Aright, Steven. Is there something you want to do now? It is your birthday.” He looks to the side from Pearl to Connie and nods. He wipes his eyes and finger spells to her ‘cake and ice-cream’ and she nods.

“Alright Biscuit. We’ll do the cake and ice-cream. And if you’re up for it, we can do presents.” 

He softly smiles as they enter the house. And the static at the edges crawls back into view. Garnet hands him to Pearl and walks off to get the cake. Twoie is placed in the middle of the couch and Connie and Greg take the seats next to him on both sides. The Spinel, Lazuli, and Peridot sit on the floor around in a circle all of them giving him a smile. He holds onto Connie’s hand and leans into his dad.

“Happy birthday to you!” Towie lifts his head off of his dad’s arm to see Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst walking over to them with cake and ice-cream containers. “Happy birthday to you!” The rest of them join in singing happy birthday as he smiles awkwardly at them. “Happy birthday to Steven! Happy birthday to you!” He chuckles at them and blows out the seven candles on the white frosted cake. In the small circle of candles were two strawberries and a few other slices as well.

The static picks up one more time as the image fuzzes out and clears up to show Towie sitting on the couch just a few moments later from the last memory/ dream. He has a fork in his mouth with his eyes closed, savoring the sweet strawberry filling mixing with the whipped cream frosting and the fluffy angel food cake. He lets out a small hum of delight and the past gems look at him. They see their Steven for a moment and smile. 

“You up for some presents?” Twoie looks up from his slice of cake and the small puddle of ice-cream left on his plate. He nods and Pearl pulls out two boxes from her gem.

“Open mine first!” 

She hands him the boxes and he smiles in thanks. He tears the paper away from the first box and softly gasps as the three brand new journals. One is blue, another pink, and the last one is purple. He runs his hand down the front of the blue one before putting them down on the table. He then grabs the second box and tears off the paper to see a box of four pens. The four pens are thin and long in different colors. He pulls the pink pen out of the box and then puts it back. He turns to Pearl, who smiles at him.

“I remember you saying something about wanting to write down different things. So I got you three different journals to write in!” She chirps with a smile as he gets up. He puts the pens down and gives her a hug and she returns the hug just as tightly.

“Thanks, Pearl.” Amethyst smiles and pulls out her gift from behind her.

“Dude! Open mine!” 

He smiles at her and sits back down. He grabs her present from her with a smile and tears at the wrapping paper to reveal a small box. Twoie opens the box and pulls out a blue outfit. He laughs as he separates the top from the bottom. Greg and Connie join his laughter as he shows them what it is. He shows a light blue crop top with a white frill clipped on by a red pin. The other half was the same light blue color but as a long skirt. The very last thing he pulls out of the box is a pair of white heels with a small pink rose on top of each shoe. 

“I haven’t seen an outfit like this in a long time. Where did you find this?” Twoie questions as she laughs.

“Dude. I saw it in a store and remembered the one time you wore it when you were younger and got a bigger size for you.” He puts it back in the box and gives her a hug. 

Then Garnet turns to him and wordlessly hands him her gift. He smiles as he opens the box made to look like it was delicately wrapped. He opens it to see a first aid kit. He looks at her confused as she smiles.

“Watch your fingers when dealing with the roses.” He smiles and then sheepishly looks away.

“Steven! Open our presents next! Bis sent hers with us as well since she still has a class to teach.” 

Lapis and Peridot pull out three different gifts and place them in his lap with wide smiles. He nods and picks up the one with blue wrapping paper. He carefully pulls it off to see a decently sized canvas with a painting of the three of them. He looks at it with a smile and thinks of a place to hang it up in his home. He puts it down and hugs Lapis tightly. 

“Do you like it? I made it with my tears.” 

She smiles as she hugs him. He nods, and they let go of each other. He then goes on to open the green wrapped one. He rips the paper off the box to see a small recorder. Just like the one he had given her, only with gem tech mixed with it. He gives her a smile and hugs her while she wipes her eyes. Finally, he opens the third gift they gave him. He holds the round-shaped box for a moment and then rips the paper away to see a small metal anklet inside. He takes it and puts it on his ankle.

“She would have made star earrings, but after last time, we decided maybe not to give you earrings,” Lapis explains as Twoie smiles at her.

“Tell her I say thanks for it and thanks for remembering what happened last time.” He chuckles and Spinel grabs five boxes out of nowhere.

“Stevie, I’m new to this birthday stuff, and so are they but we tried.” 

She sighs in defeat as she pushes the five presents to him. He chuckles as he grabs the first one. It’s wrapped in blue paper, how they got paper is still a mystery but one for another day and Twoie rips it to see a box with quite a few little blue clouds in it. He grimaces, but still holds his smile. Then he realizes that they are in separate smaller boxes that could fit in his pocket. He puts them on the coffee table with the other gifts and grabs the one wrapped in yellow. He opens the box and looks inside. A small hum of confusion is heard as he pulls out two thigh-high boots from the box. He looks to the Spinel with a confused look.

“Is she telling me that I’m still too short?” The Spinel nods and he sighs. “Okay then.” 

He puts them back into the box and onto the table. He grabs the white-colored one next. He pulls at the bow and it comes undone to show a hand full on the poof balls that were on his mother’s shoes. He smiles and places one on both of his feet. They float up to about an inch above his feet. He smiles at the gift. White had tried her best to choose something that wouldn’t be too overbearing about them. She had realized that Twoie likes the poofs that were on Pink’s outfit, so she sent him some of them for his birthday. Twoie bends down and grabs them off his feet and places all of them into the box that holds the boots. Next, he goes for the one that is a little more beaten up. He opens up to see a whole new outfit. It’s every shape of pink it can be without being the same shades as Pink’s, but so much different. The main part is figure fitting that starts just barely above his collar bone and ends mid-thigh. It has a shimmery pink skirt attached to it as well it would end just about where his ankle is. Along with heeled boots that end just above the knee and some gloves that cover the middle finger but no other fingers and go to his elbows. Twoie smiles as he recognizes it from the pebbles.

He puts it down and reaches for Spinel’s present. He opens it up to see six things he wasn’t expecting. A doll of him, a doll of Spinel, and four little bottles that seem to be glowing different colors. He gasps at them and holds them up to the light and then whips his head to her.

“I thought it might come in handy at one point since I know you don’t have them anymore.” He gently puts them back in the box and gives her a hug in thanks.

“Yeah. I ran out a year ago, and I still don’t wanna go back.” She chuckles in understanding and Greg taps him on the shoulder.

“Hey, Stu-ball. I know that you said you really didn’t want anything from me, but I had to get something for you.”

Greg pulls out from behind the couch a denim jean jacket along with another pink varsity jacket. Twoie smiles at the two jackets and grabs them from his dad. He holds the jean jacket up to see a few patches sewn into the pockets and sleeves. And then he looks at the pink jacket that is the same as the one he's wearing, except for the patch on the sleeve. He puts them on the table and hugs his dad. 

"Thanks, dad. You didn't have to get me anything."

Greg chuckles and pats Twoie on the back. "I know, but you need a new jacket. That one has seen and been through some stuff. And don’t say that you would prefer wearing your light version. I know you love earthen clothes as well."

Twoie chuckles and Connie taps his shoulder with a smile. He turns to her and she holds out a small box. He wordlessly takes it from her and she smiles as he opens it. The past gems see a metal ring on a chain and then the screen buzzes off. Amethyst groans, Pearl looks confused, and Garnet sat there without showing any emotion. They are confused about what just happened. What were they watching? Did Twoie do this? Who were those gems? As they walk down into the living room, they hear a soft groan come from the nest. They quickly move in different directions so it doesn’t seem suspicious. Amethyst sits down on the couch and listens. She hears one of the two moving around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!


	9. Calm before the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicknames and peace before something will happen. This is a relatively short chapter compared to the rest, but I hope you still enjoy it!

Third Person POV:

“Steven? Steven, I need you to wake up. It’s noon right now. We need to eat lunch.” Twoie’s voice comes from the nest along with a groan from Steven.

“No, I don’t wanna.” Twoie chuckles as he gently shakes the small boy laying on his torso. Steven in turn just rolls onto the ground instead of staying on Twoie. 

“Come on, Sirius. Wake up, please?” As soon as the nickname registers in Twoie’s tired mind, he can’t take it back and Steven’s eyes snap wide open with a smile.

“Is that my nickname?” He sits up and looks at Twoie and Twoie blushes and rubs the back of his neck.

“W-well, I mean, it can be if you’re alright with it.” 

Steven nods without thinking much of it. Amethyst is snickering as she can feel Twoie’s embarrassment from where she is on the couch. Pearl doesn’t know what to think of the nickname. Maybe he was referencing the star if that was the case then she understands. Garnet sits down next to Amethyst with a smile. In the nest, Twoie ruffles Steven’s hair before leaving the comfort of it. He freezes as he notes the gems in the house, and the realization of them hearing him give Steven a nickname hit him. Steven crawls out soon and looks shocked at the gems.

“Oh! Hey guys! I didn’t think you would be back anytime soon! How was the mission?” Steven smiles at them while rubbing his eyes. Twoie nods at them while trying to straighten out his ponytail. Garnet looks at them with a thumbs up.

“Eh. It wasn’t that bad.” Amethyst shrugs and then starts to laugh at Twoie. “So. Your nickname is Twoie and Steven’s is Sirius? Why’s that?”

Twoie blushes and pulls at his jacket sleeve. “Um. After the star. You know, ‘cause it’s one of the brightest stars? And he’s so bright, and because when he smiles it brightens up any place. And ‘cause he’s been smiling most of the time.” He looks away from the gems and Steven in embarrassment as his face flushes red. Steven smiles and places his hand on Twoie’s leg. Twoie smiles at him. He closes his eyes and picks his head up, choosing not to notice that his cheeks are still red, and clears his throat. “Anyways, I need to go to the store for some veggies and ingredients for spaghetti.”

Steven gasps loudly, “VEGGIES?! No!”

Twoie freezes for a moment. Then he puts his hand to his forehead. “I forgot about how stubborn on not eating veggies.” He tucks his bangs behind his ear again and bends down to Steven’s height with a small smile. “Sirius, if you want to be strong, you can’t live off of sweets. I should know… I've tried." He looks of to the side with an unreadable expression while biting the inside of his cheek. "Anyways, I know a way to cook them which makes them super tasty. Please?” Steven thinks for a moment and sighs. He’ll trust Twoie on this.

“Okay. I guess we can get veggies. Can we get some strawberries as well?” 

Twoie’s face lights up and jumps up in excitement. He can make that new recipe he tried weeks ago. So he put a hand in his pocket and pulls out a purple journal. The gems see that it was the same one that was given to him by Pearl on the screen. They glance between themselves as Twoie excitedly flips through the pages. Steven looks at him in confusion and happiness.  _ I haven’t seen Twoie this excited at all! If it makes him happy, I guess I can eat veggies. He did say he can make them taste good, but I wonder what’s in that book. _

“Hey, Twoie? What’s in that book?” 

Twoie stops flipping the pages. He looks down at Steven and smiles. Then he glances back at the pages to make sure that they’re written in English and then bends down to show Steven. 

“This is my journal for recipes! I would try to make something new every week and then write down what I made so I could make it for dad when I would visit! There’s a recipe that for spaghetti that I think you would really like.” Steven looks in awe at all the titles as Twoie flips through the pages. “Aha! I found it!” And he dog ear’s the page. Steven looks at the name of the recipe.

“Stir-fried vegetable spaghetti?” Twoie beams at Steven in as excitement he hasn’t shown yet. 

And for a moment, it seems that there are two thirteen-year-old Steven’s at the same time. Twoie then goes on to describe the way to cook it while Steven and the gems listen to him. Twoie and Steven were oblivious to the looks and the wordless conversation between the gems. As Twoie continues to talk to Steven, he places Steven on his shoulders and they walk to the store. As Twoie and Steven walk down the boardwalk to the store, they are unaware of the events happening in another timeline that will soon affect them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really sorry that this chapter is really short! I hope you can deal with a wait for the next chapter! But I am gonna leave it at a cliffhanger for today! Hope you liked it, till the next chapter!


	10. Pink is only a pigment too Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Homeworld, the littlest diamond finally cracks from too much pressure. His human heart hurts too much and he wants to run.

Third Person POV:

On Homeworld, there is a petite diamond hiding from two bigger diamonds who were fighting. The small diamond had asked a question earlier that didn’t matter to the other diamonds. Blue had listened, to humor the littlest diamond, while Yellow hadn’t. They had started arguing about something while the small diamond was trying to disappear. The petite diamond knows not to get in the way of the two when they argue. The short diamond just wishes that his family was still around to comfort him. The last time the blue and yellow fought was when he tore up his room and outfits. After his outburst, he was put into the tower again and he felt bad about destroying the hard work of the pebbles. The pebbles just responded by making another outfit for him. One that is more fit for him.

In his room, he twirls the small shard of amethyst in his earring and stares down at the ruby gem shard in his right hand’s ring. He brings his hand down from his left ear and places it in his lap. The pebbles in his room gathering around their diamond in hope to cheer him up when they see the tears build up. The diamond just wants his family, but he knows that they aren’t ever coming back. He just hopes that they were able to get Connie home before being shattered. He doesn’t know what happened. They wanted to help the corrupted gems, he knows that. They came to Homeworld, he’s here… But where did it go wrong? When was the last time he really ate anything? Those strange blue apples he grabbed from the human zoo… When did he grab them? He’s tired and hungry but he isn’t going to ask for more. He doesn’t want punishment again, and his hands brush over his shoulder to rub the phantom pain away. Blue is nicer though. She plays with him, makes sure he gets his apples most of the time, and does sometimes protect him from the other two. What about Berry? He was just here… Wasn’t he? His friend Berry did it again. He’s gone away again.

He looks down at his shoes. The pink heeled boots have small padding so there wouldn’t be sound when he would walk or run, per his request. He knows not to sleep unless necessary, he doesn’t like the dreams White would give him, but Berry made it easy. Berry made everything easier. Even the nightmares and the other colors.

They scare him. 

He doesn’t like it when White pulls his gem out multiple times to try and get a different result. Only to fail. He doesn’t like the scars that come from the electricity when he ‘acts out’ from Yellow. He never liked the forced crying. Blue had stopped when she would hear the desperate shrill screams of shattering the little diamond. He wants his dad. He wants Connie and his family. And he wants Berry. He just hopes that the gems got Connie home and got Bismuth to gather back up to get him home. He wishes that what White and Yellow tell him isn’t true.

“Pink? Are you in here?” He hears the footsteps before the voice. He knows who it is. He turns to the door and quickly wipes his tears.

“Yes, Blue. I’m in here.” 

He stands up and fixes his posture. He looks up at her and she smiles down at him. She holds her hand out to him and he holds back a flinch. Knowing that she would be upset if he didn’t, he steps onto her hand and she brings it up to her hair loop. He takes his seat in her hair loop with perfect posture. She walks out to the throne room and sets him on his throne while taking her seat on her own. The littlest diamond looks up in fear at the bleached Pearl standing in White’s chair staring down at him. He whimpers as his cheeks glow a pink hue and Yellow hears him.

“No more noises, Pink.” He turns his head to Yellow.

“Yes, Yellow. I’m sorry, Yellow.” He sees Blue turning to him in the corner of his eye, and so he turns to her.

“Yellow, Pink can make noise if she wants to. We just got her back, and you are scaring her.”

Pink sits there on his throne with his cheeks still ablaze with their pink tint. No, Pink didn’t just get back to Homeworld. Pink thinks he has been here for maybe three years but that would make him seventeen. Or is he sixteen? No, Pink is super sure that he’s seventeen because that’s what Berry told him. 

Pink isn’t sure though. 

Time seems so different here. But Pink knows one thing: he isn’t Pink. He isn’t Rose. He isn’t female. Pink is Steven… Right? At least, that’s what Berry told him. But… Who is Steven now? No, he won’t go down that thought path again. The static grows too loud in his ears as the bickering from the two grows louder.  _ It hurts. It hurts. Please stop. _ He clutches his ears in an attempt to block the static from taking over his head again and his peach cheeks start to glow their faint pink glow.

“Oh, Starlight~” 

He freezes as he hears the voice come from the pearl. He instantly sits up straight. No flaws could be seen on the petite diamond other than this pink hue that bridges from one cheek across his nose to the other cheek. He doesn’t want another showing of the gems being shattered. His hands hold onto each other tighter. The rounded shard of Sapphire in his ring digs into his other hand and he glances down at the hand on top with the ruby shard. 

He knows it’s wrong to keep a shard of each gem, but he needs the comfort that they are at least there with him. He doesn’t want to believe Yellow is right and these shards are truly his family, but he doesn’t want to risk losing his family. Thanks to Blue, he was able to have a single shard from each gemstone. She had laughed at him and said that his reasoning was ridiculous, but it meant the world to him and still does.

“Pink? Are you alright?” 

He can’t answer. He can’t speak. He’s too scared. The strangling feeling of the three looking at him is choking him and the glow reaches his ears and starts to make its way down his cheeks towards his chin.

“Pink! Answer the question!” 

Yellow bangs on her throne as the electricity crackles and pops on her arms. He visibly flinches and Yellow frowns at him in anger and disappointment. He sits there for a moment, gathering his thoughts and thinking his plan out. He knows a place to hide and maybe he can find a way to contact the Earth. It’s a place that he had found with the gems and Connie a while ago.  _ I can try. I can make it from here. If I give myself a strong enough push, I can have a shot. I just need to be alone for a while. I can’t handle this. I need to hide. I need to run. I need to go. Worst comes to worst, it’s electricity. _ With that final thought, it’s enough motivation for the adrenaline to start pumping. He mumbles a response to Yellow. 

“Pink, Pink, Pink. That’s all they want. All they want is her. Am I even needed? No. They want me to be her. They dress me up as her and make me act like her, but I’m not her. I’m not her. I’m not  _ Pink _ . I’m Steven Quartz Universe.” Pink grumbles under his breath as the pink glow covers his hair and grows onto his hands. He grits his teeth as his whole body now glows pink.

“Speak up, Pink! We can’t hear you!” Pink stands upon his throne gripping the edge of the armrest to face the two diamonds and the pearl.

“I said my name is Steven! And I am  ~~**NOT MY MOTHER** ~~ !” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my stars! I have been waiting to post this chapter since I posted the calm before the storm! So, if you aren't' familiar with the "Twoieverse" then meet P or Pink! This is a Twoie if Diamond Days didn't end that soon. This is where I stray from the 'canon' of the Twoieverse because here he still on Homeworld. What happened to the others isn't completely clear yet. However! I will clear up that Pink is seventeen. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I can't wait for Monday!


	11. Hide and seek used to be fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink runs and hides while Yellow and Blue are seeking for Pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a heads up: from now on, I'm not going to put "Third Person POV anymore because unless I clearly say that it is first-person, then it's going to be third-person. Thank you for understanding, and enjoy the chapter!

As soon as the words left his mouth he gasps in fear and the pink leaves him as Yellow and Blue look at each other in fear and anger. Both fears for the young diamond who might have to go to see White. While Yellow in anger of this lash out against them and the name Pink had chosen. Steven pushes off his throne with as much force as he can and starts running. While the adrenaline is keeping him going along with his thoughts of escape, his body isn’t doing so well. He’s malnourished, sleep-deprived, and severely dehydrated but he has to keep going. He can hear Yellow’s footsteps and Blue’s as well. He runs and hides behind a wall and sees the small hole in the wall, just big enough to fit him. 

He takes off his boots and holds onto them since they were starting to squeeze his feet and to make even less noise as he hears the diamonds coming closer. The tears start running down his cheeks against his will as he gets closer and closer to the hole. From Blue or not, he’s scared, but he stops behind a pillar and catches his breath. He knows from past games and chases that the diamonds can’t fit their hands in the hole, only a finger. He looks around and notes the coast is clear and hurries into the hole. As soon as he’s in, he pushes the small chunk of the wall that was left, into place so they couldn’t see the hole as much. However, he knows it’s only a matter of time before Blue realizes where he went. He sighs in relief of just getting away before noticing the water bags and the few apples he had left there weeks ago was still there.

“Oh thank stars!” 

He softly cries out as he chugs the first water pouch. He knows from last time he ate, not to eat so much in one go. So he takes one of the apples and eats a fourth of it. Savoring it, even though it has no taste. He can’t remember when anything has tasted so good, and he can’t seem to remember how anything else has tasted. Berry has brought him food as well, but it always never stuck in his memory since it always felt like a dream long forgotten. Noting that he’s full, he gently places the apples back in the small part of the room he made for the apples and grabs the second pouch of water. He smiles at it with his pink-tinted tears raining onto the floor. A small puddle forms quickly under him and with his glove, he wipes his eyes. He puts his boots back on as the floor is too cold for his feet. He looks back at the amount of food and water he has stored.

“It isn’t much. But I’ll be fine for now. I hope Connie is okay.”

He cries as his regrets of what he didn’t do on Earth start to choke him. He never told Connie how he feels. He didn’t get to hang out with his dad more often. He cries for his friends who would never see him again. He cries for his dad, who is waiting for his son to come back. He cries for the gems, who will never come back to him. He cries for the home he misses. 

“Stop that Universe! No crying! Connie wants you to live, so drink water, you need to live.” 

He wipes his tears and tenses up as he hears the footsteps of Yellow and Blue come closer again.  _ Blue must be looking for the hole now. _ As the footsteps fade out of his hearing range, he slowly raises the water pouch to his lips and takes a few more sips. Then a small white cube catches his eye. That wasn’t there the last time he and Berry were in here. What is it? He wobbles here and there as he walks over to it and finds a small note on it.

“Steven, this is for you. In case we can’t get to you, this is here for you. -the gems.”

He wants so badly to think that it truly was them, but he knows that it’s a joke. A fake. The gems wouldn’t do this since they never made it this close. Nor would they write in era 2 gem glyph to talk to him! This was left here from some sick joke. He has a feeling it was that Spinel that he bubbled recently. She had poofed herself after laughing at him for so long and he just bubbled her so he could try and fix himself without hearing his failures. Her taunts make his anger rise a bit before turning to fear as he hears the footsteps coming closer.

“Pink? Are you in there again? Come out, Pink. It’s dirty in there. I promise we won’t punish you too badly.” Pink tenses as he hears Blue’s voice. It’s soothing in the sense of bringing a haze of calmness to him until he hears Yellow’s voice.

“What are you talking about Blue?! Pink needs to be punished for her actions! You can’t keep bending the rules for her! If you bend the rules for her, then you’ll have to bend the rules for everyone!” He shrinks back away from the entrance of the hole.

“Yellow, you’re going to scare her further from the entrance. Pink will come out if she isn’t going to get hurt.”

“We don’t hurt her! We make sure that she’s in line! She’s a diamond and Pink needs to act like one!”

With that, the small bit of rubble covering the hole is blown out of the way to see two different colored eyes looking back at him. He whimpers at the angry yellow one and turns to see a worried blue eye looking at him. As the eyes back away from the hole and a yellow finger starts to try and reach him, he goes into a panic attack. His heart starts to race as if he’s been running and he can’t feel his fingers. The high pitched ringing in his ears becomes louder as his chest tightens as it becomes hard to breathe. He can’t hear the other two as he backs away from the pink goo crawling closer to him. He backs into a wall and he tries his best to keep the goo away from him. The goo then forms a mix of Rose, Pink, and himself. It opens its eyes to reveal pure white eyes looking back at him. It reaches out to him and he presses himself against the wall as much as he can. The tears build in his eyes as it gets closer and closer.

“Please, go away.” He whimpers very softly as his voice cracks in fear.

Pink continues to press himself into the wall. He turns his head to face the other way as the figure’s finger brushed against his cheek. It tries to grab onto his cheek when all of a sudden, the figure stops and shakes. Its form shakes and twitches as it staggers back. The room becomes blue and the figure explodes. Pink feels the tears falling and it makes him sick.  _ She’s doing it again! She promised! She promised me she wouldn’t do it again! _ The tears are falling down his face and he hates it. In a moment from being overwhelmed, Pink throws up the apple he had eaten just moments earlier. He gets down on his hands and knees as another wave of sobs hits him. He screams as loud as he can, unaware of the two diamonds watching. One in horror and the other in sorrow. Pink grabs his shoulders before his hands move right above his collar bone and he digs his fingers into space just above his collar bone. The pain grounds him for a moment but something in him snaps.

“Blue! Blue! You promised!” He wails loudly and Blue looks away. Yellow stares down at the small diamond through the hole they made bigger. He gasps for air as he moves his hands into his hair. “Just shatter me already! PLEASE! I can’t keep living like this!” 

When those words leave his mouth, Blue’s aura retreats back in her. Yellow puts a hand to her mouth as Pink fails to notice the lack of the aura. He wraps his arms around his legs once he calms down for a moment. Pink starts to rock himself back and forth while rubbing his arms self-soothingly. He seems to be mumbling something under his breath as Blue reaches her finger into the hole and pushes his water pouches and apples to him. With her finger, she rubs his head and he whines at the contact. It reminds him of Garnet.  _ Home. I wanna go home. _ Blue sighs as she pulls her finger back.

“Yellow, this isn’t right. Pink is hurting. We hurt her. I used to think that she was failing this world. But if she was happier on Earth, maybe we were failing her.”

“Blue…”

“She’s been suffering in silence, just like me. Like you have too.”

“Blue, pleas-”

Yellow is interrupted by the soft mumbles of Pink becoming louder. “If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs.”  _ Dad. I want dad. I wish I could go back to when this all started. _

“Blue what does that mean, exactly?”

“What Pink is trying to say is if you take away everything that’s different… You take away everything that makes us happy. Like our Pink.”

He wipes his tears and shakily grabs his water pouch again. He drinks the rest of it and calms his heart. His pulse slows and his chest untightens. He clenches the pouch tighter as the feeling in his fingers fully comes back. He grabs the final water pouch and gulps it down. He tears up and his tears, for once on their own, are blue. He sees it and he cries as he leans back onto the long-forgotten object, and suddenly he’s being sucked into a portal.


	12. The diamond is coming home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink is finally back home, but things aren't like them seem. His family is home as well... Does that mean they've been here this whole time? Did they leave him there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot that I post a chapter today, so I'm sorry for the wait!

Back in the main timeline with Steven, the gems, and Twoie, they’re eating the freshly made spaghetti Twoie just made. Well, it was just Steven, Amethyst, and Twoie eating. Twoie savors as the flavors and spices blend together to make a beautiful taste. He smiles without a care in the world as he closes his eyes. It reminds him of home and his smile shrinks just an inch. Steven sees Twoie smile and looks down at the food. If Twoie’s food this morning was good then Steven guesses that this must be good as well. So he takes a careful bite. His eyes light up in delight and wonder.

“Wow! Twoie! This is amazing! I didn’t know how good veggies could taste!” He starts to dig into his food along with Amethyst. 

“W-Well, you just have to find the right way to cook them.” Twoie blushes at the compliment again and holds the fork in his mouth for a moment. He starts to wonder about his meds. He only has to take one pill now, but still. Everyone is watching them, so how would be able to take his meds? He shrugs it off and continues to eat until something catches Steven’s eye.

“Uh, Twoie? You’re glowing again!” Steven points at the faint aura around him and Twoie looks down.

“Shit.” He whispers as he throws himself out of his chair with the fork still in his mouth. “Steven, don’t move! I don’t know who is coming now, but be careful!” He quickly slams the fork down onto the table as he speaks.

With that, Twoie is sucked into a portal and the portal sits in silence for a moment. The gems look at each other and grab their weapons. Steven is pushed behind them for protection. The portal flashes different colors and a loud chiming sound is heard for a moment before it forms into the shape of a person. The outlined person slowly starts to float to the ground and once their feet touch the ground, the outline fades along with the white glow of the portal. The person crumbles to the ground in a strange outfit. A faint whistling chime song is coming from the person and no one but Pearl can really recognize it as a gem’s song.

From behind Garnet’s leg, Steven looks at the person he assumes is another version of Twoie. So he looks at the boy. The boy is skinny and pale. It’s as if he hasn’t seen the sun in a few years. The boy seems to be wearing a strange outfit as well. He has pink boots going up to his mid-thighs with little poofs on the feet of the boots. From there only a few inches of skin was shown before being covered with a figure fitting outfit. It seems to be shorts with a see-through pink sparkly skirt that goes down to his shins. The top seemed to have four large x’s on the back that seems to hold the outfit together. It has poofy sleeves and gloves that start inches under the sleeve. The gloves go all the way to his hands and only cover his middle finger on both hands. The top of the outfit starts just below the very noticeable collarbone. The boy’s hair is short and frazzled; however, like a contradiction, it seems neat and in order. 

The petite diamond takes in a shuddering breath that seems to echo for a small moment in a higher pitch and opens his eyes to see a wooden floor. He gasps and rubs his gloved hand over the wood and feels the texture of it. He looks in front of him to see a couch and table he knows so well. The boy’s eyes fill with tears as he assumes the best. 

The small diamond is finally home.

His tears slowly fall to his chin as he reaches out to the coffee table. As he touches it, he tilts his head to the side and the tears fall to the ground. He removes his hand back to his lap and he looks around at the couch and up to his room. He sniffles and holds his right hand up to his cheek, and with his left hand, he grabs the pearl shard in his small choker. He wipes his tears and hunches back over the wooden floor.

“ሠቿ ጠልዕቿ ጎፕ. ሠቿ'ዪቿ ጌልርጕ ዘዐጠቿ. ዘዐጠቿ. ሠቿ'ዪቿ ነልቻቿ.” He grabs onto the flooring tightly as his body shakes with relief. The faint chiming sound slowly changes into the sound of little bells and wind chimes in harmony. The gems and Steven don't know what he's saying. It isn't from Era 1 or 2. It's an Era they don't know, it's Era 3.

The gems look at the boy in weariness as he weeps. Steven looks out from behind Garnet’s leg in worry. And Pearl walks up to see if he’s alright or a threat to Steven. As she gets closer, the gem song becomes clearer and she knows he isn’t a threat. She thinks she knows who it is. It’s the same gem song that Steven would give off when he was a baby.

Just like Rose’s song but more earthen. 

She taps him on the back with the back end of her spear. The diamond tenses up immediately and sits up with perfect posture. He shakes but no one could really see it unless they really look for it, just like he taught himself to do, but the song changes. It sours into a soft static sound and fades away to the point of needing to strain to hear it. The young diamond turns his head and his eyes widen at the sight of the gems. His face scrunches up as he starts to cry, and he places his hands over his mouth to quiet his gasp. The gems get a good look at his face and gasp in shock.

The boy has big doe-like eyes, like Steven, along with big dark circles under his eyes. His skin has barely any peach color to it, and his cheeks are a dark red from crying. His outfit covers his chest, but it leaves his gem exposed, and you can see the faint outlines of his ribs. They get a good look at scars around his gem before he covers it with one arm. That’s when they notice his jewelry with shards in them. On both of his hands are a ring, one holding a shard of ruby and the other holding a shard of sapphire. In his left ear, there are two earrings. One dangles down and looks like a purple teardrop, and the other is a shard of amethyst. In his right is just another purple teardrop dangle earring. Around his neck is a small ribbon-like choker with a bow on the side of his neck; however, right in the center is a shard of pearl.

He keeps eye contact with them and crawls over to Pearl, who is the closest and grabs her hand. She freezes as he grabs her hand. He bends her fingers around his hand. He doesn’t make eye contact with her. His tears fall to the ground and his blue tears slowly turn pink as he places his forehead to her hand. The song slowly comes back just a little quieter than when he first showed up, and again it has changed to a piano and bells harmony. He lifts his head up to look at them.

“ፕዘቿሃ ፕዐረዕ ጠቿ ፕዘልፕ you ሠቿዪቿ shattered.” He whimpers out and he takes one hand away from her and places it over the piece in his choker. They can't make out much of what he said other than 'you' and 'shattered' but they can put two and two together

They all freeze as he takes off his choker. He takes his other hand from her and looks down at the shard. He drops the ribbon onto the floor and takes off the rings and the small earring. 

“ፕዘቿሃ, ነዘቿ ነዘዐሠቿዕ ጠቿ. You ሠቿዪቿ ኗዐክቿ. ፕዘቿሃ gave me ፕዘቿ sh-shards.” 

He looks down at the pile of jewelry with an empty look. He then looks up at them and clasps his hands together. His vision blurs and he sniffles again. They look at him horrified. He smiles and the song picks up speed before slowing down. It slows down and sounds more like soft piano notes.

“ጌ-ጌሁፕ you're ዘቿዪቿ! You're ልረጎሀቿ! ጎ ጠልዕቿ ጎፕ home!” Then, his face drops. “You ኗዐፕ Connie home ዪጎኗዘፕ? P-Pearl? ጌሁፕ ፕዘቿክ...” 

He looks down to the ground with wide eyes and a broken smile. He looks at the ground as if it was telling him something. His shoulders slump and he puts a hand over his gem. He doesn’t move, and it looks like he isn’t breathing. He sits there in silence and nobody moves or speaks. No sound can be heard but his song becomes louder. His expression changes and he looks lost. The soft piano becomes static noise as soft hiccups and glitches are heard in the song.

“ጎ-ጎቻ you ሠቿዪቿ ልረጎሀቿ ፕዘጎነ ሠዘዐረቿ ፕጎጠቿ… Why ዕጎዕ you leave me ፕዘቿዪቿ? ሠልነ ጎ not good? ሠልነ ጎ not good enough? I promise ጎ’ረረ do better. ጎ ርልክ be better. ዕጎዕ ጎ say ነዐጠቿፕዘጎክኗ wrong? ሠዘልፕ ዕጎዕ I do?” He brings a hand up to his face as he cries. He lifts his head up to look at Pearl and he covers his eyes with his fists. He wipes his tears and looks at the rest of them.

That’s when he starts to see the differences.

“ሠ-ሠልጎፕ ል ጠጎክሁፕቿ…”

He brings his hand down from his face and stares at Amethyst. He looks as her outfit doesn’t line up anymore. Where are her shorts? And her shirt is different. Where is Garnet’s outfit? Where are her wedding rings? 

This isn’t his family.

This isn’t his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the different text is supposed to be era 3 spoken gem glyph. That's the reason the gems don't understand it. The different eras do look different, so look out for that. By the way, Steven isn't really that big in this chapter since he's hidden behind the gems, so Pink hasn't seen him yet. About the text, I couldn't quite find the right font that people seem to be using for this, so I had to use my own. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	13. Home but not.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The merciful Pink diamond is home, but so much is wrong. He just wants his home and his friend. He finds comfort knowing his friend is with him. However, it isn't his friend, it's... Himself?

His world shatters into millions of pieces as he scoots away from the gems. The images of seeing their gems fall onto the ground from a high place and shattering on impact. Seeing them splinter into millions of pieces too small or incomplete to be put back together. Having the moment of hearing their last words playing over and over in his mind. Having the moment rewound only to watch again, over and over again while the yellow and blue colors don’t do anything to help the color pink as white tries to fix pink. The song grows a little louder as the static becomes a warped version of the whistling chime. The gems look around and Steven looks at him in worry. Was this Twoie making the gem song they were hearing? The diamond can only feel the color of pink draining from him. Only to pool in his cheeks, making them glow.

Only to make Pink himself, paler and paler.

Those moments repeat in his mind as he tries to move away.

“ክዐ, ክዐ, ክዐ, no, no, no, no. የረቿልነቿ, ነፕልዪነ no! ሠልጕቿ ሁየ. ሠልጕቿ ሁየ! You ዕዐክ’ፕ ሠልክፕ ፕዐ go back there! You need ፕዐ wake ሁየ ልክዕ run!” 

He scoots back to his pile of shards and scoops them up. “ጎ’ጠ sorry ኗሁሃነ, ጎ didn’t mean ፕዐ take you off. ነ-ነዘቿ’ነ doing it again. ል-ልክዕ ጎ-ጎ. I ር-ርልክ’ፕ! B-Berry!” He gasps and looks from side to side for his friend. He whimpers. “(Berry. ሠ-ሠዘቿዪቿ’ነ Berry? Where is h-he?)”

He turns away from the gems and Steven. In his left hand is his family and the other is wrapped around himself as he rocks back and forth. He’s mumbling something that no one else can hear as he shakes. No one moves for a moment until Steven walks out from behind Garnet. This Twoie seems… sad and hurt. He wants to help! He can at least try! He walks in front of the gems and to right behind the boy. He reaches out to him, only to hesitate from touching him at the last moment. He pulls his arm back and rubs his hands together.

“Excuse me? Are you alright?”

The simple question is loud to the boy but it silences the song. It’s a voice he hasn’t heard in a while. He knows the voice, but he just can’t seem to remember who speaks like that. Berry? Is that him? He wants to turn around to find out, but if this is White’s dream she’s giving him then he doesn’t want to turn and see. But he shakes his head anyways at the question.

“Oh. Did something bad happen?”

A nod. Berry would know.

“Oh. Um… Do you want a hug?”

The boy stops moving for a moment. Did he want a hug? White can’t do that. And she doesn’t ask, but Berry does. Not only would that hurt his mind if she recreated Berry, but White hasn’t been able to do that before. He lets his arm relax and brings his legs up closer to his chest. He nods. It’s been so long since he’s had a hug, and he wants the contact. Head pats and pokes to his chest don’t really count for much as physical contact, and Berry hasn’t hugged him in a while. He just needs to feel someone other than himself hugging him. With his free hand, he tugs at his hair for a moment before dropping it. He nods again with more emotion and wants in the action. 

Steven looks at the boy and then hugs him from behind tightly. He wraps his arms around the boy and feels him flinch. It was such a harsh and violent flinch that everyone could see, but Steven felt the hands of the boy grab onto his arms. Steven, to his horror, can feel a lot of the boy’s bones and he doesn’t think that’s normal since no one he has hugged has felt like this. A small whimper comes from the boy as he pulls his head up and looks up at the ceiling. He sniffles and pink tears flow down to the ground. He smiles and gasps very softly. The contact is something that he knows is telling things about White’s interference. He can touch objects and people in his dreams, but they aren’t ever the ones to start the contact. The song returns as the whistling tune from before and his cheeks stop glowing.

“ጎፕ’ነ real. I’m ዪቿልረረሃ home.”

He turns ever so slightly to face the boy that’s hugging him only to see Steven. His eyes widen and Steven lets go from the hug. He looks at Steven with wide eyes and then grabs Steven’s cheek with his right hand. Steven looks at him in wonder and the boy looks around one more time. No Berry?

“ሠ-ሠዘልፕ’ነ happening? Garnet? P-Pearl?”

Garnet steps forward and squats down to the boy. “Steven, you’re in the past.”

The boy places his right hand to his mouth as tears fill his eyes again. He opens his left hand to the shards and cries. The bells and piano join the chiming sound that creates a haunting melody. He brings the hand close to his chest and lets out a wail. He wails and sobs before opening his hand again to see the shards. “S-s-so, they ሠቿዪቿ r-r-right. No! N-no! የረቿልነቿ, no. I ነዘዐሁረዕ’ሀቿ listened!” He closes his hand around them again and faces the floor as he bites his lip and lets out a small whine. “Y-You never meant ፕዐ leave me ፕዘቿክ?” 

He starts crying harder and he folds in on himself. Out of habit, he clamps a hand over his mouth to muffle the sounds of his wails and forces his gem song to be as quiet as he can get it to be. He shakily drops the shards onto the ground and with the hand not covering his mouth, he starts pulling at his hair. Everyone else looks at each other not knowing what to do. Pearl, not knowing anything better to do, went to get a glass of water for the boy. He whimpers at the sound of footsteps and a bubble appears around him. Pearl taps on the bubble once she’s down to the height of the boy. The boy flinches and looks at her from between his arms.

“I thought you might want some water since you’re crying so much.” 

She doesn’t make eye contact with him. She doesn’t want to think of why this older version of Steven is like this. Or why he’s in this outfit. She doesn’t want to think of why… But, she already can guess what happened and it hurts her. To think that those shards could be them, but if this is her baby… She doesn’t want to entertain the idea of what  _ they _ did to him. He brings his arms down and looks around in fear of the creature that follows him everywhere. It always comes to him when he's upset, scared, or hurt. He doesn’t see it, and pops his bubble and reaches out for the glass of water. He gently taps her hand since he was shaking, and he pulls back for a moment. Then he grabs the glass, the cup feeling almost new to him since he would drink from pouches and not cups. He looks at her with glassy doe eyes and holds the cup with both hands.

“ፕ-ፕዘልክጕ you.” He drinks it down and looks calmer than before. The song comes back faintly as a bell chime. He hangs his head down in a small feeling of shame. “ጎ-ጎ a-apologize ቻዐዪ d-dropping in ረጎጕቿ ፕዘጎነ. I-I didn’t want ፕ-ፕዐ ኗዐ ፕዐ the p-past. ጎ just w-wanted ፕዐ ጌቿ home ልክዕ ክዐፕ ፕዘቿዪቿ.” Now he wants Berry. Berry calms him down.

Amethyst shrugs with a smile, trying to get this version of Steven to calm down even more. “Nah bro, you’re fine. I mean, other Twoies have been here today.” She and Steven don’t really catch on her slip up while Pearl and Garnet do. The small diamond tilts his head as he takes another sip. The small aura of fear shrinks down and everyone feels it even when they didn’t notice it immediately. It’s replaced with something that makes them feel calm and they relax as the color pink becomes redder by just a drop or two. The song’s bells chime dip for a moment and continue to play.

“Two-ies?” Steven smiles at him and the small diamond startles. He almost lets go of the cup, but he doesn’t.

“Yeah! They’re other versions of me from the future! There’s Twoie, Denim, Trickster, and now you!” Pink points to himself.

“ጌ-ጌሁፕ, ጠሃ name i-isn’t Twoie! I-I’m Steven, (ዐዪ ሠልጎፕ… ሠልነ ጎፕ Rose? Pink? No, it ሠልነ Steven. Berry ልረሠልሃነ ዪቿጠጎክዕነ ጠቿ.)” He looks away and then makes eye contact with Steven.

“Well. We should give you a nickname! Something to tell you apart from the others instead of calling you Twoie as well!” He thinks for a moment and Pink tunes out as they start to talk. “... What about Pink?! Since your outfit is pink!”

_ I guess that would be better than anything else since I have been called Pink for a while now, but the name holds too many emotions. I don't like it. _ “Not Pink. ጠልሃጌቿ just P? Yeah, ጋሁነፕ call me P... Why ዕዐቿነ ጎፕ smell good ጎክ here?”

Steven gasps as he remembers the food sitting on the counter, “We made lunch just a few minutes before you arrived! We have extra if you want some!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	14. Eating into Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink shares a bit more on his past. The gems are a bit uncomfortable while Steven and Pink eat more of the spaghetti that Twoie had made. Poor Pink must learn not to eat too much after not eating a lot before.

Pink perks up at the mention of food. Water can only do so much to fill people up. Not to mention that the apple he ate earlier didn’t really last. He nods and stands up. Suddenly he’s hit with a wave of dizziness as everything spins around. He grabs his head and Pearl grabs his shoulder to keep him steady and he flinches again. He stands there for a moment as everything stops spinning. That’s when everyone gets a good look at him. Their shock at the height difference from the others and him. Pink is just a little shorter than Pearl. She doesn’t have to look down too much, but she still does at the same time. And when she holds his shoulder she can feel his bones better than a normal human would feel like. She deduces that he might not have been eating a lot and that they need to feed him now.

He moves out of her grip once the wave of dizziness leaves him and walks over to the counter where Steven was sitting at. To everyone’s surprise, they can’t hear any noise from him as he does this. That’s when they notice his song has gone quiet again for a reason they don’t know. They were expecting to hear maybe a shoe click or the faint sound of a footstep and at least the song he’s been giving off almost the entire time, but no sound was heard. Steven smiles at him and pats the stool to his left. Pink sits down next to him and Pearl walks into the kitchen. She grabs another plate and puts some of the extra pasta onto it and places it in front of Pink along with a fork. He looks at it for a moment and everyone stares at him.

_ Am I being weird? Everyone is staring at me again. This smells really good. I think it’s… It’s pasta? Pasta with, I think, veggies. This isn’t the apples they made me eat. I want to eat and I’m hungry. So it’s okay, right? _ He clears his throat and looks at Pearl, “t-thank you.”

He grabs the fork and spins some pasta onto the fork. He stares at it as the smell brings him back to Earth. He takes the first bite and Steven gasps as Pink’s eyes light up. Pink’s eyes widen in delight and wonder as his cheeks redden. He savors the flavor of the pasta and sauce combining into one. He hasn’t had anything with a flavor for a few years that stuck out like this and this is wonderful. Just like a dream. He quickly starts to shovel more into his mouth as gracefully as he can. He tears up at the food and finishes his plate. His blue tears flow down his face as he smiles. He finishes the pasta and he finishes the veggies with a watery smile. The song comes back as a soft piano tune.

“ጎ-ጎ haven’t had ጠሁርዘ ፕዘልፕ’ነ ዘልዕ flavor in ል l-long time. T-thank you so ጠሁርዘ.” 

The gems look at him with mixed feelings. The smile he had on as he was eating the pasta was Steven’s, the gem matched as well, and his eyes are like Steven’s but just a bit different. They hold just a tiny bit of innocence but have a timid feel and Pink looks around and listens to everything he can as if someone is going to attack him at any moment. He takes another drink of water from the cup Pearl put in front of him. Amethyst glances at Pink's uncovered stomach and her eyes widen at the scars that seem like claw marks around his gem. Her eyes go up his body to stare at the outline of his ribs and her eyes soften in worry for little brother. What has he gone through? What language is he speaking? She wishes she could help him and tell him things will be okay, but here he is sitting there as proof that something clearly went wrong. She wants to hold him close and just shield him and Steven from whatever happened, but what can she do? She doesn’t even know what could happen.

Garnet doesn't know what to think based on the outfit. It looks like the one from Twoie's dream, but with it, on Pink, she can't help but notice how much it looks like a homeworld outfit. She doesn't like not knowing but she doesn't want to know about this. About what happened to him. She saw the shards and him talking about  _ them _ made her fear the worst. Did the diamonds take him to homeworld and shatter them? Did they make him watch? Did they take his friend Connie as well? Couldn’t she have seen what would happen or did she choose to actively ignore the signs? How horrible that would be for the boy she loves. She stares at him as Pearl serves him more food and Steven digs back into his food. Garnet hums and crosses her arms. Amethyst then pushes her plate to him and Pink's eyes immediately lock on to her once she starts to move. 

"You look like you need it more than me." She explains and he nods his head with a small smile. 

"Thank you."

Pink continues to eat more and more without thinking about the consequences of it. He eats until he’s full and he lets a small sigh out at eating the food. Steven sees him full and looks at the plate in front of Pink.  _ He only ate one plate and a little of the other one. Is that enough for him? _

“Hey, P? Are you sure you can’t eat any more pasta? That doesn’t look like a lot.” Steven looks at Pink in worries and Pink shakes his head softly.

“N-No, I’m ነፕሁቻቻቿዕ. T-Thank you for ፕዘቿ food. ጎ-ጎፕ’ነ been a while ነ-ነጎክርቿ I ዕጎዕክ’ፕ ዘልሀቿ to plan ዐሁፕ ሠዘቿክ to eat.  **_Hurk_ ** !” He grabs his stomach and places a hand over his mouth. Tears spring in the corners of his eyes as he tries to keep the food down. Steven and the gems look at him in worry as he suddenly stands up.  _ No! No! Keep it down! Don’t throw it up! Come on, Steven! Keep it- Nope! It’s coming up! _

Pink runs to the bathroom as fast as he can and the gems chase after him. He falls in front of the toilet and delicious pasta makes its home in the toilet. As he throws up, Steven rubs his back and Pink swears that it’s actually Berry. The song turns sour as it slows down and a soft whistle is heard. At first, Pink flinches from the contact but then lets Steven continue rubbing his back. The gems aren’t sure why he threw up. He didn’t eat too much to get sick, did he? He wasn’t sick when they met him, was he? They didn’t know.

“Hey uh… P?” Amethyst starts as she places her hand on Pink’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“I-I’m f-” He’s cut off by throwing up once more, “fine.” Pink throws up once more and quietly groans. She moves back away from him but opposite of Pearl, Garnet, and Steven.

“Yeah, sure you are. Why’d you throw up then?” He hangs his head down at the question.

“ጎ think ጎ ate too much. ጎ’ጠ not used to eating ፕዘልፕ much. (ነፕልዪነ! ጎ ርልክ only eat ል fourth ዐቻ ፕዘልፕ ዕልጠክ apple, ሠዘሃ’ዕ ጎ think ጎ ርዐሁረዕ eat ፕዘልፕ ጠሁርዘ! ጎፕ ጋሁነፕ tasted so good, ልክዕ ጎ ሠልክፕቿዕ ፕዐ eat ልነ much as I could.) ጎ’ሀቿ gotten used ፕዐ eating very little ዐሀቿዪ a long የቿዪጎዐዕ ዐቻ time, ነዐ ጎ think ጎ ጋሁነፕ ate too much. Sorry.” 

He brings his head up to look at Amethyst with guilty eyes. He is unaware of the fact that the guilty eyes he’s using are the same as the ones he would use on Blue to try and minimize punishment. Amethyst feels her heart shatter at his expression and at the ‘kicked puppy’ eyes. Pearl and Garnet look between each other and both of what they thought become clearer, but they don’t know the whole picture. They look back at Pink with sorrow filled eyes and Amethyst looks at them to step in, but they don’t move. So Amethyst shakes her head.

“No, don’t apologize! It’s fine, just eat as much as you can without throwing up and you’ll be okay. Okay?” She looks at the others and Steven nods in agreement.

“Yeah! Just try your best!” Steven runs over to the cabinet to grab a spare toothbrush. “Here! You might want this to get the bad taste out of your mouth.”

Pink nods and flushes the toilet. He grabs the toothbrush and walks over to the sink. The gems and Steven leave the room. He looks in the mirror and looks at his face in sadness. The tired eyes bore right back at him. He looks at his hair and doesn't see his hair but  _ hers _ . He sighs and shakes his head.  _ Don't think about that right now. Just focus on the task at hand. Brushing my teeth. Stars, is this a new toothbrush? I needed another one up there.  _ He brushes his teeth in silence and closes his eyes. 

He's home but in the past. But what does that mean if his family is gone? Pink thinks back on what could have gone differently. Would his family still be alive if he had waited for his time in the tower to be over? What if he didn't go at all? What if he had made friends with that Spinel? Would she be a friend? What about the boy he’s seen before? He came out of a portal and claimed them to be friends after telling him to call him Berry. Where did he come from? Did Connie make it home? How close was his family to him when they were shattered? Is dad still waiting for him to come home? The last question breaks his heart to think about. His dad. 

All alone now. 

No son. No Rose.  _ No, just don't think right now.  _ He spits out the toothpaste and sighs. He washes out his mouth and wipes it. He looks in the mirror and sees them again. His eyes widen and pupils shrink. 

"(G-get ዐሁፕ.)" He whimpers as he squeezes his eyes shut. "የ-የረቿልነቿ, just… (ረቿልሀቿ me alone.)" He can feel it getting closer and then can feel it leaning on his back. 

"dןǝɐsǝ, ʇǝןן ɯǝ… ʍɥɐʇ ɐɯ ı?" 

He starts and runs out of the bathroom into the living room. He accidentally runs into Pearl, who was waiting closest to the bathroom. She grabs onto him and he grips onto her as tight as he can. She looks to Steven and the others as Pink’s frame quivers. She silently wraps her hands around him and hugs him tightly. She runs her hand through his hair to calm him down. It worked for Steven when he was little and scared. Why wouldn't it work for Pink? He is an older Steven after all. 

“P? Are you okay?” 

Amethyst looks at him and waves a hand in front of the half of his face she can see. It’s as if he can’t see her even with his eyes wide open. Steven looks up at him in worry and taps his hand. Pink doesn’t respond to it either. He can feel them coming closer, but Pearl is there. 

She’s alive and can protect him from them. He can feel her warmth. He can hug her. He can see her. She's alive. She can protect him. He feels her hold him and they know they can't get him. He calms down as he feels them leave. Steven grabs his hand again before joining in on the hug. Amethyst and Garnet join in too and Pink just sighs in relief. They stay like this until another portal shows up. The gems and Steven look at it in confusion and then back at Pink who looks just as or even more lost than they are.

“Hey P? Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, where all the other Twoies are? Since another one is arriving?”

He shrugs and looks back at the portal. “ጎ-ጎ don’t know.” Is Berry coming to save him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, someone else is joining the party of Twoies! Who could it be? Who is this Berry that Pink talks about? I'll just leave these questions for you. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter!


	15. Berry nice to meet you!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's a friend! He says he listens to Pearl, but the reason he's here is because he didn't listen. He's a berry nice friend that the petite Pink knows. And it's berry nice to meetcha!

They watch as a faint shout of joy comes from the other side. Then a boy, just a few inches taller than Pearl falls out of the portal. He lands on his back and lays there for a minute. He bites the inside of his cheek and then lets out a pained laugh. He rubs a hand down his face as he laughs and the portal closes behind him.

“Oh, man! Pearl is going to be mad that I didn’t listen to her! Well, in honesty, I  _ did _ listen but I just didn’t follow through with what she said. Yeah… She’s still gonna be mad. Huh?”

The boy turns to see the gems, Steven, and Pink. Pink’s eyes widen and then he starts to smile widely. He knows this boy in the white shirt with a yellow star. He knows the familiar sandals and pink fluffy sweater tied around his waist. He knows those star earrings, hair clips, and smiles anywhere. He lets go of Pearl and everyone backs away from him in confusion. He puts a hand up to his mouth and shakes for a moment before sprinting to the boy. For the first time, the gems and Steven hear footsteps. 

“ጌቿዪዪሃ! ሃዐሁ’ዪቿ ዘቿዪቿ!”

“Hey! H-oof!”

The boy, now known as Berry, is tackled into a hug as Pink throws himself at Berry. Berry laughs as Pink holds onto him tightly. Berry holds onto him tightly and then looks back at the gems and squeaks.

“P! You didn’t tell me that your gems were still alive! That’s great!” Then he sees Steven looking straight at him. He quirks a smile as he looks down at Pink in confusion. “Uh… Hi? P? What’s going on?”

Pink looks up at him with small tears in his eyes. “ዐዘ, ጌቿዪዪሃ! ጎፕ’ነ ጌቿቿክ ዘዐዪዪጎጌረቿ ነጎክርቿ ሃዐሁ ረልነፕ ሀጎነጎፕቿዕ ጠቿ! ጎ ነፕልዪፕቿዕ ፕዐ ፕዘጎክጕ ሃዐሁ ልጌልክዕዐክቿዕ ጠቿ! ጌሁፕ ክዐሠ ሃዐሁ’ዪቿ here!” Berry looks down at him in sadness and the gems note that it seems he knows how to comfort Pink. As if he’s done it before.

“Oh, P. You’re my friend. I won’t ever leave you, but can you please explain what’s happening?”

Pink nods and turns to face the gems. “ሠቿረረ, ጎ ነዐጠቿዘዐሠ ቿክዕቿዕ ሁየ ጎክ ፕዘቿ የልነፕ, ነዐ ሠዘቿክ ሃዐሁ ርልጠቿ ፕዐ ሀጎነጎፕ ጠቿ. ጎ ኗሁቿነነ ፕዘልፕ ሃዐሁ ኗዐፕ የረልርቿዕ ጎክ ፕዘቿ የልነፕ as ሠቿረረ.” 

Berry freezes for a moment and then starts to mouth words as his expressions change. He starts tapping his foot a little and he taps his finger on Pink's arm. It’s as if he’s talking but just not actually saying anything at the same time. The gems and Steven look at each other in confusion and it seems to them that Pink knows what he’s doing. Pink is nodding along and talking along with him in his broken English. It’s obvious that these two know each other but from where?

“Um. Excuse me. Do you two know each other?” Pearl looks between the two of them and the two stop talking and look at her. Pink hasn’t stopped smiling and his gem song hasn’t changed from the bell piano mix. Berry blushes as he realizes he just ranted and no one other than Pink knew what he was saying.

“Er… S-sorry about that. Sometimes I just stop talking. It’s a weird habit I have, but that’s not the point!” He looks down at Steven with a wide smile. “Heya there, Steven!” He lets go of Pink and picks Steven up like Pearl would do to him. “Jeez! I can’t remember when I was this short!” Steven laughs as stars fill his eyes.

“Woah! You’re as tall as the others! Awesome! I’m gonna be tall!” Berry and Pink laugh at his response and then Berry stops. He looks at Pink in confusion.

“Others?”

“ዘ-ዘቿ means ፕዘቿ ዐፕዘቿዪ ‘Twoies’.”

“Twoies?”

“ልየየልዪቿክፕረሃ, ፕዘቿሃ'ዪቿ like us. ዐ-ዐፕዘቿዪ versions ዐቻ Steven’s ቻሁፕሁዪቿ. ፕዘቿዪቿ’ነ ሁጠ… Twoie, Denim, uh… Trickster, ልክዕ ሁነ. ፕዘቿሃ ዘልሀቿ ዕጎቻቻቿዪቿክፕ n-nicknames ነዐ ፕዘቿሃ don’t ኗቿፕ confused. ጠጎክቿ’ነ P.” Berry looks at Pink who had straightened out his posture as soon as all eyes went on him. Pink plays with his fingers as Berry thinks for a moment and Berry looks back at Steven with a big smile.

“Alrighty then! Call me Strawberry! Connie gave me that nickname ‘cause I’m sweet as a Berry!” He puts Steven down and Pink shuffles closer to Berry and stands behind him. He turns back to Pearl. “To answer your question from before, yeah! I know P!”

“ሠቿ ጠቿፕ on accident. I was…” He trailers off and rubs his right shoulder, “ሃ-ሃቿልዘ. I was in ፕዘቿ ዪዐዐጠ. ል-ልክዕ ነሁዕዕቿክረሃ, ዘቿ ሠልነ coming out of a portal and ሠቿ ጌቿርልጠቿ friends quickly. ጠ-ጠልጎክረሃ because he just ነሁዕዕቿክረሃ claimed me, ዘጎነ friend, before leaving.”

Berry chuckles at the memory and rubs the back of his neck. “I remember my Pearl was so mad that I didn’t listen to her. Here’s the thing though! I did listen to her, but I just did it anyway. I never do anything without asking Pearl first!” They looked at him, not believing anything he just said and he sweatdrops. “Well, I’ll ask, but I would still do whatever it is I want after.”

He chuckles as Steven smiles. Pink places his hands on Berry’s shoulder and looks at the others with a bit more comfort. He knows and is trusting with Berry. He can relax because he knows that Berry is safe. The gems look at the two of them and Steven runs around them. He laughs as Berry and Pink chase him. Amethyst also joins into the game of chase. Garnet doesn’t do much, but she leans against the wall and watches them as Pearl looks at them, not knowing what to really do. They watch in relief as Pink keeps smiling. Seemingly more relaxed with Berry around him. They continue to play with Steven, chasing him around the house, before a glow covers the two of them. Pink and Berry look at their hands and notice that Berry's glow seems to be a very pale pink while Pink's seems to be a pink lily shade.

"B-Berry? What's happening?"

Pink grabs onto Berry and Berry holds him tight as a small flash of light momentarily blinds the people in the house. 

"Huh? Come on, again?"

Steven looks and gasps at the sight of Twoie standing there with his hair half braided. Twoie looks down at Steven with a smile before sitting down on the couch to try and detangle his hair. Steven runs over with a giant smile and hugs Twoie as tight as he can. 

"Twoie! You're back!"

"Hey there Sirius. How was it? Who did you meet?" Twoie chuckles as he leaves his hair alone and ruffles Steven's hair. Steven laughs and Amethyst sits down next to him. 

"Dude. This time there were TWO Twoies. It was weird! One of them is dubbed P shorten for Pink, based on his outfit and the other is Strawberry." Twoie freezes for a moment. 

"Pink?" His cheeks turn pink for a moment and then return back to his normal tan. He looks at Pearl. "Did they cause any trouble? Hold on a moment… Two of them were able to be here at the same time?! How is that possible?"

"We don't know but it's great to see you again Twoie." She smiles as she places her hand on his shoulder before looking at his now tangled hair. 

"Twoie!"

"I'm not that far away, Sirius."

"Let's go play in the ocean! Or tell Connie!"

Twoie chuckles as the little boy run around. He pulls out a hair tie from his pockets and ties his messy, tangled hair up in a bun.  _ This is going to be a mess to detangle later. But whatever. _ He then shoves his hands in his pocket and starts walking to the door. Twoie turns to Steven and the gems with a lopsided grin. 

"Well? Are you coming?"

Steven gasps and rushes out the door. Twoie laughs and follows him outside with a wave goodbye to the gems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you follow the blog, I'm sorry that I strayed from Berry's now concrete personality. I wrote this back when he was just said as a happy baby boi and not what he is now. So sorry about that! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	16. The past leaves marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Twoie play video games for a while, before deciding to go and swim. As much as Twoie didn't want to have Steven see, he saw the marks of the past. Even if he doesn't know what they are.

"The crowd waits with bated breath as Steven Universe takes the final bite."

Twoie snickers as he watches Steven from the other side of the bar counter. He stares at Steven as he smiles at him. "Really, Sirius?"

Steven smiles at him with stars in his eyes. "Yes! The crowd falls silent as he returns his focus to the task at hand."

Twoie stares at him with a lopsided smile and Steven takes the final bite. As soon as Steven takes the bite Twoie cheers and claps. "Woo! Go, Sirius! Great job!"

Steven smiles as he holds his arms up in the air. "Thank you! Thank you! It was a wonderful play."

Twoie snorts as he laughs at the younger boy. He covers his face as he throws his head back in laughter and Steven smiles at him. He feels proud that he could get Twoie to laugh so much and smile. Twoie runs a hand through his hair as the temple door opens. 

"Yo, Steven! Hey, Twoie! What's so funny?"

"It's just Sirius being himself. However, he's got something he wants to do with you guys."

"What is it, Steven?"

"I want us to go mini-golfing!"

The gems look between themselves and then back at Steven. Twoie looks at them with a small sigh and ties his hair into a loose bun. He remembers this day. Steven looks at Twoie in confusion and then back at the Gems. Pearl looks down at Steven and walks up to him. 

"Oh Steven, we're sorry. We have to go on a mission."

As the gems and Steven talk, Twoie tunes out. He stares at the temple door as static fills his head. He absent-mindedly starts twisting a curl that fell out of his bun. He runs back into the conversation to hear the last comment from Pearl. 

"-And Twoie can watch over you. Right, Twoie?" Twoie lets out a hum of confusion as he turns back to Pearl. He nods and Pearl smiles at him. “See? We’ll be back soon. Now, be good Steven and Twoie. Bye!”

Steven huffs and Twoie looks down at him while leaning onto the counter. Steven grumbles about having his own mission before turning around to face Twoie. Twoie looks at him with a small smile and Steven walks up to his loft to start playing his golf game and Twoie follows after him. Twoie lays on his bed while Steven sits down on the ground. Steven hands him a controller and starts up the game. Twoie laughs at Steven’s commentary throughout the first two levels. He doesn’t remember his commentary being this funny. A few hours go by and they aren't really far into the game since Twoie would keep distracting Steven. 

"Sirius. I don't think I can keep looking at the screen today. We've been playing for hours." He groans as he drops his head into the comforter. His hand is also starting to cramp from playing for so long with barely any breaks. He wonders how he was able to do it before when he was younger. Steven pauses the game and saves his progress. He turns around to look at Twoie's slumped figure. 

“Aw. Alright then. What do you want to do?”

He turns to Twoie as he lets go of his control. Twoie hums for a moment before picking his head up. He looks around and then smiles. 

“What if we go to the beach? Play in the sand and look for shells?”

Steven gasps in excitement. He quickly jumps up from the ground and runs off to get a pair of swimming trunks on. Twoie chuckles and looks down at his clothes. He could see if he still has that pile of bigger clothes in the drawers. So, he gets up off the bed and walks to the small drawers in the corner of the room and sees a whole collection of black and blue shirts, a few pairs of jeans, and a few pairs of shorts. He smiles and grabs a pair of shorts and quickly changes into them and takes off his shirt. He places his pants and shirt in the laundry basket hidden out of sight. He sighs in delight and then he feels a small hand on his back. He freezes as he feels the hand run across the star-diamond shaped scar on his lower back. He knows who it is. He knows what he's seeing. 

“Twoie?" Steven softly gulps. "Why do you have these scars on your back? What happened?” Steven questions as he runs his hand across the scars. He feels that they indent in the skin and they cover his back in a way that seems like a pattern. He looks up at Twoie and moves to hold his hand. Twoie sighs and squeezes Steven's hand. He loosens his grip and looks down at Steven. He really didn't want Steven to see those. But he really was just avoiding the inevitable. 

“Sirius. It isn’t something I can tell you, but it was something bad. It’s just there now. But it’s okay! The other Twoies and I will make sure you don’t face it! Okay? We'll help you. So don't worry.” He squeezes Steven’s hand one last time and then let’s go. He puts his jacket back on and then smiles at Steven. “Now, let’s go play on the beach. Then we can come back and have lunch. How about that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to head cannon that even if Steven doesn't fully have the corruption scars like other gems, he does have scars on his back from the spikes. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	17. Go down to the ocean, the crystal tide is rising.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Twoie have some fun in the ocean!

Steven smiles and races down the stairs and out onto the porch. Twoie chuckles and walks after him. He does remember to bend over just a bit to stop from hitting his head on the doorframe. They make their way to the beach and leave their sandals and Twoie’s jacket on a rock. Steven dips his foot in the ocean and before he can back away, Twoie picks him up and throws him into the ocean. Steven screams in delight as he lands in the ocean and when he surfaces he lets out a whoop. He looks at Twoie and watches as he backs up and breaks out into a run. Twoie runs towards the ocean and then jumps into the water. He lands a little further than Steven and swims to him. He comes up for a breath of air and laughs with Steven. Steven splashes water into his face and Twoie spits it back out. He looks at Steven with a smirk.

“You wanna play that way? Okay.”

Twoie goes under the water and bubbles a few bubbles of water before coming back up for air. He smiles at Steven and lifts up a bubble of water and Steven hesitates. He looks at Twoie, and then back at the bubbles behind him.  _ Uh oh. _ Twoie chuckles the bubble higher than Steven.

“Ha! You missed!” Twoie smirks at Steven.

“Did I now?”

“Huh?” 

Steven looks up in confusion to see the bubble now just above him. It was at that moment, the bubble popped drenching Steven with the water inside. He wipes his eyes and looks back at Twoie. Twoie laughs as he grabs another bubble and Steven ducks under the water so he can’t be hit. He swims behind Twoie and then jumps out of the water. He startles Twoie causing the bubble of water to pop and splash him. He turns around to see Steven laughing and tackles him. He quickly grabs Steven and then throws him out of the water into the air. Steven squeals in delight as Twoie catches him. 

“Again! Again!”

Twoie laughs, “Alright, hold your breath!”

With that, he dunks Steven under the water again but spins him in a circle before throwing him back in the air. Steven flies into the air with howling laughter. He starts to fall back down with a squeal of excitement. This is so much fun for Steven since he usually doesn’t have someone to play with him. The gems usually go on missions without him, his dad is usually busy with the car wash, and Connie isn’t around all the time. He loves this, and he doesn’t want this time with Twoie and the others to end. Twoie proceeds to throw Steven a few more times before stopping.

“Again!”

Twoie chuckles at Steven while he shakes his head. “No more Sirius. It’s time for lunch or at least a snack. Then we can come back to play.” 

Steven lets out a whine before thinking about it. “What if we just played for a few more minutes? Then we can go to eat.”

Twoie bites the inside of his cheek. He can’t say no to those eyes. He sighs and then smiles at Steven. Steven smiles and lets out a victory whoop. Twoie glows for a moment before splitting into Pink and Berry. Berry is holding Steven and Pink is holding onto Berry. They all look at each other before Berry throws Steven into the air. Pink looks at Steven in worry as he starts to fall back to the ground. Berry just catches him before he can hit the ground. 

Pink lets out a sigh before noticing that his socks are wet. He backs out of the ocean to take off his socks and sits in the sand. He watches as Berry plays with Steven in the ocean. He rests his head on his arms. He wants to go play, but he doesn’t want them to see the marks. He picks at the strings on his sweat jacket. It’s comfier than his other outfit, and he likes it more. No shoes, but there are socks when he wants to wear them. He isn’t allowed to wear the gem shards anymore since it freaked the others out. He didn’t want that, so they gave the shards a proper ‘burial’ in a bubble of their own. He was able to keep the ribbon though, so he still wears it in their honor. He sits there and looks back at the two only to see them heading back towards him.

“Hey! Pinky! We’re gonna get a snack! Wanna eat something?” Berry calls out to him as Steven waves at him. 

“O-okay.”

Pink gets up and dusts himself off before walking over to the two of them. They all grab the clothes left by Steven and Twoie. Berry holds the jacket before turning to Pink.

“Do you think Twoie would mind if we give Steven his jacket?”

“I-I’m sure ዘቿ wouldn’t mind.”

Berry smiles as he gives the jacket to Steven, who immediately puts the jacket on. It drags behind him and the sleeves are too long for him, but he smiles at the jacket. It excites him to see how tall he actually will be. Berry laughs and Pink quietly chuckles behind his hand, and Steven notes that the song that Pink would give off hasn’t been playing in the background. Pink also seems to be talking more in English. Pink had gotten help from Denim to be better at not having his gem song so loud anymore and help from all of the Twoies to bring back his English. Pink grabs onto Berry’s left arm and Steven’s hand as well. They make their way back to the house and Berry opens the door for all of them.

“Steven? Go change out of your swimming trunks, please. You don’t want to catch a cold.” Berry tells him as he gets a towel for himself.

“But it isn’t even cold outside! So how would I catch a cold?” Steven whines as he goes up the stairs but he still grabs dry clothes and goes to the bathroom anyways.

Berry laughs and then wraps himself in the towel. He walks up the stairs to the drawer that Twoie had gone to before and pulls out a white shirt and pair of jeans. He looks over the edge of the loft to Pink. “P, Do you want some clean socks? Or shorts?”

Pink shakes his head before turning away from Berry to give him his privacy to change. While Berry changes, Pink takes off his shorts and balls them up. He holds it close and blows on it as his mother did to dirt to make fake shards. After a moment, his shorts are dry and he puts them back on. He then takes off his jacket to do the same, but he makes sure that Steven is still in the bathroom. Berry watches from the edge of the loft as Pink takes off the jacket to reveal a sleeveless top that has a cut out for his gem. He silently gasps at the lightning-shaped scars running down his upper back on his shoulders. Along with the indented scars that look like water flowing down his back. He pulls away from the edge with a hand over his mouth to prevent making any sound. 

Has Pink been hiding this the whole time? He only thought it was the scars most of them have from White. What has White done to Pink? What about Yellow? Blue? What did she do? And why would she help Pink after hurting him so many times? He doesn’t understand, but he won’t push it. Pink will tell him when he’s ready.

He hopes he will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	18. Snacking on fruit and fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strawberry cooks and Pink and Steven have a little more fun before it's time to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this chapter is late!

“Y-You ርልክ come down now, Berry. W-we ጌዐፕዘ kinda need you to make the snacks.”

“What are you talking about? I know how to cook!”

“I-I’m not sure it counts, Steven.”

Berry jumps off the loft and lands in front of Steven and Pink. He smiles before grabbing some strawberries from the fruit bowl. He goes ahead and looks for a small knife while Steven and Pink sit down. He gently washes the strawberries and cuts the heads off of them. Then he cuts them in half to make heart shapes. Steven and Pink watch as he places them in a bowl and then goes to grab more strawberries. He washes them but only cuts the heads off before turning to Pink.

“Do you think the gems would be mad if we gave him sugar?” 

Pink shrugs and Steven does as well. Berry shrugs to himself and then sets the strawberries aside while he grabs a small pan. He grabs the sugar and pours some into the pan along with some water. He cooks the sugar water and Steven and Pink look at each other in confusion. They watch as Berry skewers the strawberries onto some skewers. Berry hums to Steven and Pink a wordless tune as he makes his way to get a plate and then greases it. Then he dips the strawberries into the mixture after a few minutes and then pulls them out to show the two. He places the strawberries on the plate and the other two look at the strawberries in curiosity. The strawberries have a shiny coat of something on them and they look between each other as Berry continues to make more before turning off the stove and putting the pan in the sink. 

"Pinky? Do you want anything?" He turns to face the two of them and Pink looks away for a moment before nodding. 

"ር-ርልክ I have a peach? Please?"

Berry smiles at Pink and so does Steven. Steven isn't sure why they are smiling at Pink, but he thinks it's important. While Berry is happier that Pink is asking for things. It's taken all the time he has known Pink to get him to ask for things instead of not speaking. So he nods and grabs a peach from the fruit bowl. He washes the peach and peels the sticker off of it. He looks down at it for a moment before biting the inside of his cheek and slapping it onto Steven's hand. He giggles as he cuts the peach and Steven looks at the sticker with a smile. Pink softly smiles at the two of them and Berry places the plate in front of him with slices of peach in front of him.

"Here you guys go!"

He places a place of peach slices in front of Steven as well. He then slides some of the cut-up strawberries onto their plates as well and pours the rest into a bowl for himself. Then, he grabs the sugar-coated strawberries off of the plate and gives two of them to each of them. 

"Berry? What are these?"

Berry bites into a sugar-covered strawberry with a smile and chews quickly. He swallows a bit of it before bringing a hand to his mouth to cover it. "A sugar covered strawberry kabob! at least, that's what I call it since I can never remember the actual name. It's pretty sweet, right?"

Pink giggles and grabs a peach slice. He bites into it and smiles in delight. Berry knows how to pick a ripe peach. He continues to eat his half of the peach with a smile. Peaches have always been his favorite fruit. Steven giggles and swings his legs as he munched on his snack as well. Berry continues to munch on his food when Pink pushes the sugar-covered strawberries to Berry. 

"I can't eat anymore. Thank you."

Berry nods and they wait for Steven to finish eating before he grabs the plates and washes them. As he does this, Steven takes Pink up to his loft to show him the golf game that Twoie and he never finished. He teaches Pink how to play the game and as they play, Berry smiles at the two of them. He really wants Pink to be a little more open. Twoie and Denim do help, but maybe Steven can get him to be more open as well. Berry dries his hands on the dishtowel before walking up the stairs to the loft. He sits down on the bed next to Steven and above Pink. 

The three of them proceed to play the golf quest for a long time. They would switch off controllers so that they could all play together. Pink was somewhat good at the game, while Berry seemed to be good, but they couldn’t beat Steven at the game. Maybe that was because it’s been years since they played this game and Steven is more in tune with the game? They don’t know. They continue to play and laugh as they progress through the game. They make it really close to the end but before they can finish the last boss, Berry hits the save and quit button. 

"AWWW! Berry! Why'd you do that?" Steven turns to look at Berry who's yawning. 

"Because. It's late! We need to sleep. You need to sleep, Steven. You can't play video games all night."

Pink yawns and nods along to Berry. Steven pouts for a minute but decides to agree to it. They can always continue the game in the morning. So he goes to change into his pajamas and Berry smiles. As Steven looks for his pajamas, Berry gives Pink a hair tussle. Steven finds his pajamas before turning around and grabbing his other set of pajamas. He quickly changes and looks at the two sleepy teens with a smile. It's like a slumber party with his older selves. He quickly makes his way to the T.V. and turns it off. Pink and Berry glow again and suddenly Twoie and Denim arrive mid-pillow fight. They freeze and Twoie ends up falling on the ground since he had jumped up before they teleported to the present. Steven runs up to them and Twoie gets up. 

"Denim! Twoie!" Steven runs to hug them both and they return the hug.

"Hey, Sirius!"

"Heya there kiddo."

They both tussle his hair and Steven giggles. He's curious about why the two of them are there though. He knows that Pink and Berry can be with him at the same time, but he didn't know the others could at the same time. Before he can ask his question, Twoie beats him to it. He turns to Denim and picks up the pillow that he dropped.

"So… wait. Why are both of us here?"

Denim taps on his glasses for a moment with a hum before snapping his fingers. "I got it! It must be if one of us is touching another one, then we bring that Twoie with us! We were I guess touching through the two pillows, so I guess that's how come we're both here?"

The two of them look between each other and shrug. None of them really have any idea of what they're doing, but then they look at the sleepy Steven and chuckle. Twoie picks him up and tucks him in with a smile. Denim watches from not too far away while adjusting his shades. 

"Alright, Sirius. It's time for bed. Good night, we'll see you in the morning and we can continue the golf game. Yeah?" Steven nods and rubs his eyes. 

"Good night Twoie. Good night Denim. I'll see you in the morning." Twoie smiles as Steven starts to fall asleep. Denim smiles at Steven and runs his hand through Steven’s curls.

"Good night, Steven. Pleasant dreams."


	19. WE FORGOT ABOUT THE ROOM!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie and Denim wake up a little too late to stop Steven from running into the room, but it doesn't mean that they can't make it up to him afterward. Poor Twoie's bones though.

With that Steven falls asleep. While Twoie and Denim stay up and quietly continue their pillow fight in the living room. They horse around for another hour and a half before settling down on the ground with the extra blankets. 

"So, Denim. We've gotten to know each other better and I have two questions." Denim lays on his stomach and motions Twoie to continue. "Why do you wear shades? And how are we actually different from one another? I mean we're pretty similar."

Denim thinks for a moment. "I wear my shades because I want to. I don't think it's wise to take them off here. But, for the second question… I would say it's maybe when we went to Therapy. I mean, I'm no longer in Therapy and I'm good. I know how to handle myself and help myself. I actually started therapy a few days after what we call 'The Diamond Days'. Y’know? Definitely helped me in the long run." He puts air quotes around diamond days and Twoie hums. 

"That makes sense. I went to get help after my big meltdown, at least that's what people call it. But does that mean you never glowed pink?" Twoie leans his cheek on his arm as he lays there. 

"No, don't get me wrong. Just because I went to Therapy sooner doesn't mean the other stuff didn't happen! I was unfortunate enough to first go pink during the first graduation of little homeschool. That was rough since I didn't know what it was and just kept making it worse until I was able to think straight. I think I got close to what you call a meltdown, but nope. I just talked through everything and let myself feel whatever I was feeling in the moment instead of repressing it like I used to." Twoie blushes at the hint to what he did and shakes his head before yawning. Denim hums before opening his mouth again. "Sometimes you have to let yourself feel what you feel and then let it go when you're ready. That's the best advice I can give you."

"That clears a lot up. Thanks for the advice, Denim. Good night." 

"Night, Twoie."

With that, the two of them fall asleep. Around four in the morning, Twoie wakes up since he usually wakes up at that time. However, he grumbles about no coffee machine and he ends up falling back to sleep with his foot sticking out of the blanket. Later, the two of them wake up after Twoie lets out a pained whine. Denim looks at Twoie only to find Twoie's ankle under Pearl's foot. 

"Oh, my stars! I'm sorry Twoie!" She quickly steps off of his ankle. He sits up and reaches for his foot. He holds it as close as he can before it hurts to bend his leg. He whimpers again.

“It’s fine, Pearl.” He waits a second before it stops hurting before wiggling his toes. “(Pretty sure you broke it, but it’s fine. Just add to my broken bone collection, it’s fine. I heal quickly.)”

Denim chuckles at the grumbles under his breath. Having been close enough to hear it before looking around. Shoot. Did they wake up too late to stop Steven from running into the room? Denim looks at Twoie who seemed to notice as well. 

"Pearl? Garnet? Amethyst? Where's Steven?" Denim asks as he gets up and straightens his shades. Twoie nods. 

"Steven went into Rose's room." Garnet states. 

Twoie scrambles to his feet and rushes to the doorway. He looks in to see nothing but clouds. Denim sighs at Twoie and cleans up the pillows and blankets from the ground. Then Twoie stops for a moment. 

"Wait… How did we sleep through the wailing stone shriek? I could have sworn that it would be loud enough to wake the two of us up." Twoie faces Denim who just shrugs before Twoie goes back to pacing. 

Denim sighs again. He knows Steven will be fine, and he has Twoie, the gems, and the rest of them to be there for him. As much as Denim wants to make changes to help Steven, he knows that things happened for a reason and grew out of wondering what could've happened and grew into what should they do now that it happened? 

So they wait for a few minutes before they hear a scream from Rose's room. Twoie panics for a moment and pulls at his hair before opening his arms. He stands there with his arms open and before Amethyst can ask why Steven shoots out of the room and into Twoie's arms. Twoie catches him with a grunt before falling over with Steven in his arms. Steven looks around before taking Twoie's arm and biting into it. 

"ᎰᏬᏨᏦ!" Twoie cries out in pain and no one really pays attention. 

Steven gasps. "You're not clouds!"

"Aw yeah, Steven!" Amethyst yells before she bites Pearl who yelps in pain.

“Amethyst! Don’t bite me!”

Twoie lets Steven out of his arms as Denim chuckles. Twoie walks back to Denim, cradling his arm. Denim looks at the visible bite mark in Twoie's arm and winces.

"You took that like a champ, Twoie." He pats Twoie on the back as Twoie moves towards the couch. Twoie groans. 

"Are you serious? I yelled 'fuck' in front of Steven! And I could have avoided being bitten!"

Denim sighs. "You win some sometimes and sometimes you get bitten." He shrugs and Twoie chuckles from Denim's joke. 

Twoie rubs his arm before Denim suddenly disappears in a small flash of light. He looks around in confusion. Did… Did Denim just leave? Huh… That was weird. Twoie shrugs it off and quickly heals himself. He ties his hair up in a messy ponytail and changes his outfit into his normal light clothes.

"Twoie? Where did Denim go?" Twoie turns to Steven who is dangling in Garnet's arms as they all look at him. 

"I'm not sure. We were just talking and he disappeared. I think he might've been sent back? I'm not sure though. This is weird." Twoie scratches the back of his neck. 

"Well, this is rather new to all of us. So, let's just hope for the best." Pearl states as she looks around as well. 

"Well, I was gonna ask if you two wanted to join us for mini-golfing! We'll all go now that there's time." 

Twoie smiles and nods. They all head out of the door, but Twoie hits his head a little harder on the door frame again with a loud thud. He lets out a hiss of pain as the gems turn to look back at him. 

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

Twoie groans and puts his hands to his forehead. "Ugh. I keep forgetting how low the door frame is." Amethyst laughs at his misfortune and Steven giggles for a moment before Twoie shakes his head with a smile. "Let's go get snacks and then head over to the mini-golf course. I can't wait to see Garnet in the golf pants again!" 

He ducks under the door frame and walks outside with the gems. Steven laughs and runs outside with Twoie. The gems follow them to the golf course and they have fun for the rest of the day. Twoie had chuckled at Garnet in Greg's golf pants. Occasionally, there would be moments where Twoie would have to duck from the golf ball being hit by Amethyst. At one point, Steven wound up his club a bit too fast and nailed the not paying attention Twoie between the legs. He crumbles to the ground with a pained whine as Steven apologizes. Pearl runs over with Garnet in worry while Amethyst laughs. 

"Twoie?! Are you okay? Oh geez. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

Steven bends down to try and make eye contact through the curtain of hair covering Twoie's face. Twoie lets out another pained filled whine before giving Steven a thumbs up. 

"Don't worry, Sirius. I heal quickly." He groans out as he slumps back onto the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	20. The explosive tower of communication!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First off, sorry this chapter is late! Now, Steven and Twoie go to the communication hub with the gems. One of them gets an idea when Trickster comes out to help.

"And this is the communication hub!"

Twoie tunes out Pearl as he looks around again. It's been a while since he’d last been here. Twoie looks around at Garnet and then back to Steven. 

"What does that mean?"

Garnet looks down at Steven. "It means it's hurting television."

Twoie chuckles as Steven gasps. "No! I'll save you, television!"

"Sorry, Steven. It looks like we need a Steven this strong for the job!"

Steven looks at Amethyst who had transformed into a buffed up version of Twoie. "It's all the Twoie we could be!" Twoie laughs and Steven looks at him with a smile. Then a faint haunting chuckle creeps into his mind and he cringes at the memory. He softly frowns as he looks away. 

"No thanks. I prefer to stay the same." 

Steven nods at Twoie. He looks back at Pearl and Garnet before turning his attention back to the pillars. Steven looks at Twoie, who is touching a pillar, before turning to Pearl. 

"So how do we take it down?" Steven asks Pearl but before she can respond there is a small glow from Twoie and they all look at him. In place of Twoie is Trickster. 

"Ha?" He looks around for a moment before his eyes land on the tower. He looks down at Steven and his ear twitches. "Heya there, Kitten? Need a paw?"

Steven gasps, "Trickster!" He hugs Trickster before pulling over to the gems. "Guys! You haven't met Trickster yet! This is Trickster!"

Trickster grins at Steven before frowning at Pearl and Garnet. He smiles again as his eyes land on Amethyst. "It's furry nice to mew!" He then walks to Amethyst and hugs her. "Heya there, sis! It's been a while! Nice to see mew!" Amethyst chuckles and hugs him back. 

"Nice to meet you, Trickster." Pearl nods as Trickster looks at her with a tight smile. He stiffly nods at her with a certain look that the gems can't really read. 

"Yeah. Likewise." He spits out before he turns away from Steven to look at the tower. "So Kitten, mew need a paw with this?" Steven nods and Trickster cracks his knuckles. "Alrighty then. Pawden me, I have a tower to blow up." 

"Blow up?!" Pearl shrieks as Trickster pulls a small round bomb out of his pocket. "We can't blow up the tower!"

Trickster sighs as he holds the bomb and slumps over. "For cats’ sake, why not?" He folds his arms and taps his foot as he waits for her response. She looks at him startled by the behavior. 

"Because! You can't just blow it up!"

Trickster just raises an eyebrow at her as his ears press against his head. "Watch me." 

With that, he rubs the end of the fuse with his fingers. Creating a flame at the end of the rope. He passes it between his hands twice before sticking his thumb out to find the best place to throw it. He closes an eye and sticks his tongue out to concentrate. The gems watch in worry as he makes no rush while the fuse is getting dangerously shorter and shorter. With a small 'aha' he throws the bomb which explodes on impact. They wait for the dust to settle before looking to see the damage. Trickster runs forward towards the pillar

"For cats’ sake! Barely a fuckin' dent in it!" Trickster yells out. Pearl gasps and Amethyst laughs. 

"Trickster! Watch your language!" Pearl yells at him and he just sticks his tongue out at her in return as he walks back over to Steven. Amethyst bursts out in another fit of laughter and Garnet just hums. Steven turns to Trickster. 

"Was that your weapon?" Trickster scoffs and closes his eyes. He puts his hands on his hips. 

"Paw-lease, Kitten. My weapon is still a shield, but I just make bombs furr every occasion! What if I don't want to just defend and I wanna help Nelly instead? Pearl wouldn't teach me to sword fight, so I learned how to make bombs!" He opens his eyes in excitement and clenches his fists.

Steven bites the inside of his cheek before making eye contact again. "So, was that your strongest bomb?"

Trickster looks at him and sticks his hand into his sleeve and pulls out a slightly bigger bomb. “Not by a long shot.” He slyly grins at Steven before walking past him. “Just had to get a feel for the strength of the tower. Leaf it to me, I’ll have it down faster then mew can say-”

Garnet places a hand in his chest and stops him. He almost drops the bomb in surprise before glancing back at Garnet. He glares at her before holding the bomb closer to himself. 

"What gives?"

"We aren't going to blow it up." Trickster sighs dramatically before placing the bomb back in his sleeve. 

"Well if we aren't gonna blow it up, then what are mew going to do? (Form Sugilite? Yeah cause that worked so well last time.)" He rolls his eyes and marches back to Steven. He plops himself down next to Steven and holds him close. If they are going to form Sugilite then he doesn't want anything to happen to Steven. 

"We need a well thought out plan-"

"We don't need a plan. We just need to be huge." 

Trickster rolls his eyes at the two of them. He hates Garnet and Pearl. Not fully, but still. They were the reason for him being this way. Again, not really but still. It was their problems and their fault. It's their fault that his- no. He isn't going to think about it. It still hurts. At least he's got a shot to fix it this time. 

He isn't going to waste it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	21. Nice to meet P-Steven's other brother? Brothers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More than one 'brother' joins Steven on a trip to the Big Donut. Sadie and Lars meet them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this will be the last chapter for a while. I want to go on break since I need to catch up on writing more chapters. So then I can have more time to edit and write before posting the chapters so then they're good enough for you! I hope you understand! On another note, thank you so much for reading so far! I'm glad that you like it so far! Anyways, onto the chapter!

He hugs Steven closer as they watch Garnet and Amethyst fuse. He smiles at Amethyst, she was the one that taught him  _ his _ way of dancing. And he loves it since it always pisses off Pearl. In a flash, Twoie is holding Steven instead of Trickster. Twoie looks at Sugilite and sighs he lets go of Steven so he can get up. Steven runs over to Sugilite as Twoie stands up. Twoie pulls a hair tie from his pocket and ties his hair back into a low ponytail, and brushes his bangs out of his face. He walks over to Pearl and Steven as Sugilite creates her wrecking ball. He sighs as he picks up Steven. 

"What? Hey! I want to see her smash stuff!” Steven whines as Twoie chuckles.

“It isn’t worth getting a fracture in your skull, though.” 

Steven squirms out of Twoie’s grasp before he hears Twoie. He runs back to Pearl’s side only to be in time for the small rock to hit him in the eye. Twoie winces as he stands on the warp pad. Pearl yells at Sugilite and Twoie grabs Steven before they warp away. In the warp stream, Twoie kisses Steven’s forehead hoping to soothe Steven but he doesn’t heal it. He remembers how much it hurt.  _ No wonder it hurt so much. I had cracked a bone. Does that count as breaking a bone? I hope not. _ Steven looks up at Twoie as Twoie waves him off.

Once they get home, Pearl stomps off into her room in the temple and there's a flash. Steven looks back to where Twoie was when he hears a squeak. He blinks and sees Pink standing there holding a plushie of Lion close to his chest. He looks around before his eyes land on Steven. 

" S-Steven? Wh-what's ኗዐጎክኗ on? ጎ-ጎ ሠልነ ጋሁነፕ ሠጎፕዘ ጌቿዪዪሃ ል-ልክዕ ዕቿክጎጠ! ሠዘሃ ል-ልጠ ጎ ዘቿዪቿ ክዐሠ? ሠዘልፕ ዘልየየቿክቿዕ?"

Steven walks up to the panicking Pink and hugs him. Pink stops talking quickly and hugs him back. Steven just hugs him for a little bit longer. He may not know what to do, but if hugs work, then he has lots of hugs ready. Pink let's go of Steven and breathes out a small sigh. 

"O-okay. I'm okay now. ክ-ክዐሠ, what's going on?"

Steven shrugs. “I dunno. We were at the communication hub. Trickster tried blowing it up, but Garnet stopped him. Twoie came back and there was Sugilite. She started smashing stuff and then a rock hit me in the face and-”

“ **_ል ዪዐርጕ ዘጎፕ ሃዐሁ_ ** ?!” Pink screeches as his gem song turns into a loud high pitch chord played on the violin before looking around and his lion plush goes flying somewhere. He shrinks in on himself before reaching out to Steven’s face. He tilts Steven’s head up to look at it. “Oh, stars... Umm, okay! (ርልረጠ ዕዐሠክ Steven. ጎፕ'ነ ዐጕልሃ. ፕዘጎክጕ! ሠዘልፕ ርልክ ሃዐሁ ዕዐ? ሁዘ, ሃዐሁ ርልክ ሠዪልየ ጎፕ! ልክዕ ዘቿልረ ጎፕ!) Okay. Um… Steven? Can you stay here for a moment? I’ll be right back.”

Pink runs to the bathroom as soon as Steven nods. Pink slips at first on the tile in the bathroom with his socks. He takes his socks off and leaves them in the smaller hamper in the bathroom. He then goes into the cabinet behind the mirror.  _ Oh, stars! I don’t remember what bandaids look like anymore! Is this it? No, these don’t look like bandages. Uh… This looks like a roll of bandages! _ Pink pulls out a small cloth and wets it with water before letting his tears fall onto the cloth as well. He runs back out of the bathroom to see Steven sitting on the couch. Pink dabs the cloth on Steven’s cut, watching it heal before wrapping Steven’s forehead and eye with the bandages. Pink glows and suddenly there’s Pink, Twoie, and Trickster instead.

“Hey wait… P, how are you still here?” Twoie asks as he looks at Pink. Pink softly kisses Steven on the forehead before turning to Twoie.

“ጎ wasn’t going ፕዐ ጋሁነፕ let him stay ጎቻ he’s hurt! ጎ-ጎ ዕጎዕክ'ፕ ጕክዐሠ ፕዘልፕ ጎ ሠልነክ'ፕ ነሁየየዐነቿዕ ፕዐ! I-I’m s-sorry. I-” Pink starts to shake as he holds himself. Twoie shakes his head.

“No, no. It’s okay! I just thought that you would’ve been back at the house.”

Pink loosens up. “O-Oh. S-Sorry.”

Steven smiles and hugs Pink and Pink flinches before hugging him back. Twoie looks at Steven with a small snort. He remembers those bandages. Trickster looks at Steven with a smile and a thumbs up. Steven smiles at them and giggles before looking at them again.

“We should go and get something to eat from The Big Donut!”

“That’s a great idea, Kitten!”

“I’m not too sure.”

“I haven’t been there in a while.”

The three of them look at each other before nodding. “We’ll all go.”

Steven smiles and pulls them along to the doorway where Twoie hits his head yet again on the doorway. He hisses in pain and Trickster just breaks into laughter. 

“I keep forgetting how low the door frames are! Ugh… I'll fix that later.” Pink looks at him and pats his back. Twoie just shakes his head and walks outside before putting his hair into a ponytail. "Come on, let's go. I want some coffee." Pink nods and Trickster chuckles. Pink hurries out the door and Twoie looks down. "Uh… P? Don't you want some socks or something?"

"No thank you. I'm… okay." Pink looks down a little proud of himself and Twoie smiles. Twoie ruffles his hair softly, but he still flinches. Trickster frowns for a moment before picking Steven up under his arm. 

"Well Kitten, are mew ready?" Trickster smirks down at Steven and Steven nods with a big grin. 

"Yeah! Let's go!" 

Twoie and Pink nod in agreement and they walk to The Big Donut. Pink looks around before watching the sand. He missed the feeling of sand in between his feet. He giggles softly as he spreads his toes before curling them around the sand again. Twoie smiles at him knowing that Pink is getting better faster than they thought he would. He lets out a small laugh that sounds like a huff of air. Trickster is in front of them, throwing Steven into the air and catching him as he falls. He keeps doing that until they reach The Big Donut. Steven smiles before opening the door. 

"Hey, guys!" Lars and Sadie gasp at the bandages on his face. 

"Steven! What happened?!" Sadie doesn't quite notice the other three walking in yet as she rushes over to tilt Steven's head. 

"A rock hit him in the face." Twoie sighs as he walks inside, remembering to duck again. He smiles softly to Sadie. "Morning Sadie."

Sadie looks up at Twoie and waves as Lars starts to laugh at Steven. "You got hit in the face with a rock and you have all those bandages wrapped around your face! How big was it? A pebble?!"

Trickster sighs. "(I liked him better after he died) No, mew moron. It was big enough to crack his skull." Sadie gasps and looks at Steven again. "Don't worry though. P fixed him right up. It's healed. (But it will leave a nasty scar)" Steven looks at Pink before hugging his legs. Pink flinches gently before hugging him back. 

"Oh. Okay. Hi, again Twoie… um. Who are these two?" Sadie turns to Pink and Trickster as she calms down. Lars turns to her. 

"You know this guy?"

"Lars! Twoie is Steven's older brother!"

Lars studies him for a moment. He does kinda look like Steven only more tired. And taller. And his hair is long and curly. Yeah, he can see it. Twoie nervously chuckles. 

"Well, it's not just me. Steven's got more older brothers. We're all gonna be here a while, so might as well introduce each other. This is Pink." Twoie points at Pink who stands up straight and looks down. 

"ክጎርቿ t-to meet you, Sadie." Sadie looks at him in concern before nodding as well. 

"Nice to meet you too." Trickster rolls his eyes at her. 

"Don't worry so much! He's gettin' better! He just didn't have the purr-fect time once he… moved out." His ear twitches and Sadie gasps at it. He chuckles and bends down to shake her hand. "Just call me Trickster! It's berry nice to meet mew!" 

Sadie chuckles at the puns. "Nice to meet you too, Trickster. Is that all of you? Or are there more?" 

Twoie puts a hand behind his head. "Well, we aren't sure. But once they're here, we'll introduce you."

Trickster nods. "Yeah! We'll introduce mew!" Lars laughs out loud. 

"Why are you talking like that?! It's dumb!" Lars laughs out. Trickster pulls back with his ears pressed tightly against his head. 

Sadie glances at Trickster before marching over to Lars. "Lars! That wasn't nice!"

"No, no. He's right. I should just speak like ᎿᎻᎨᏕ ᎰᏒᎾᎷ ᏁᎾᏯ ᎾᏁ." Twoie just slaps him upside the head. "ᎾᏯ! ᏯᎻᎯᎿ ᏯᎯᏕ ᎿᎻᎯᎿ ᎰᎾᏒ?!"

"For being a dumba-" He glances down at Steven. "Being stupid. Just talk in English." Trickster frowns before nodding. Twoie just sighs. "Okay. Sorry about that. Sadie? Is it okay if we order?" She nods and rushes behind the counter and Lars scoffs. Trickster frowns at him and his ears flatten against his head. 

"What can I get you four?"

"One chocolate for me… Please."

"One classic, please! Thank you, Sadie!"

"Just a coffee for me. Thanks." Twoie turns to Pink. "P? Do you want anything?"

Pink looks around the building as he remembers the good times he had in here. He wonders if Lars ever made it to Earth with the off colors. What about his Sadie? How is her career going? What about Dewey? He tunes back in as Twoie taps him on the shoulder. 

"Hmm?" 

"ጎ ልነጕቿዕ ጎቻ ሃዐሁ ሠልክፕቿዕ ልክሃፕዘጎክኗ. ጌሁፕ ልዪቿ ሃዐሁ ዐጕልሃ? ሃዐሁ ነቿቿጠ… ነልዕ. ጎነ ነዐጠቿፕዘጎክኗ ጌዐፕዘቿዪጎክኗ ሃዐሁ?" 

Trickster turns to Pink as well with a worried look on his face before picking up Steven and distracting him from them. Steven doesn't need to see that. He's still a boy who doesn't need to see the worst of the world just yet. He doesn't need that right now. He doesn't need to know what Pink went through or what the rest of them went through. Lars looks at them confused and annoyed. Sadie stares at them for a moment before talking with Trickster and Steven. Sadie and Lars don't know the language and they doubt that Steven does as well. Trickster's ears look like they're trying to listen in on their conversation. 

"ጎ'ጠ… ነልዕ. ጎ ኗሁቿነነ. ጎ ጠቿልክ, ጎ'ጠ ጠዐዪቿ ሠዐክዕቿዪጎክኗ ዘዐሠ ቿሀቿዪሃዐክቿ'ነ ረጎቻቿ ጎነ ረጎጕቿ ክዐሠ. ጎክ ጠሃ ፕጎጠቿ. ጎ ሠዐክዕቿዪ ጎነ ረልዪነ ኗዐፕ ፕዘቿ ዐቻቻ ርዐረዐዪነ ዘዐጠቿ ፕዐ ቿልዪፕዘ. ጎ ሠዐክዕቿዪ ዘዐሠ ነልዕጎቿ'ነ ርልዪቿቿዪ ጎነ ኗዐጎክኗ. ጎ ሠዐክዕቿዪ ጎነ ዕልዕ ነፕጎረረ ርዐጠቿነ ዘቿዪቿ… ጌሁፕ. ክዐ ሁነቿ ዕቿሠቿረጎክኗ ዐክ ፕዘቿ ቻሁፕሁዪቿ ፕዘልፕ ጠጎኗዘፕ ክዐፕ ዘልየየቿክ… ዪጎኗዘፕ? ሠቿ'ረረ ጋሁነፕ ሠልጎፕ ልክዕ ነቿቿ. ጌሁፕ. ጎ ዕዐክ'ፕ ዪቿጠቿጠጌቿዪ ሠዘልፕ ጎ ረጎጕቿ ዘቿዪቿ ቿጎፕዘቿዪ. ርልክ ሃዐሁ ርዘዐዐነቿ ቻዐዪ ጠቿ?" 

Twoie sighs and nods before hugging Pink tightly. Pink hugs back and Trickster slightly tightens his grip on Steven. His ears press down on his head. He wishes he didn't hear that. He looks back to Sadie with a small determined smile on his face. 

"One classic and an apple juice too. For P. Please."

Sadie nods. She understands that P must have been through some stuff. Lars glances at them in concern only for a moment. The two of them noticed how the air around the three older brothers changed into something hurt, but Steven didn't seem to notice. At least that's what they thought, but he noticed. He just didn't say anything, but just hugs Trickster who returns the hug. Sadie hands them the donuts and coffee. Pink grabs a small can of apple juice before nodding at Sadie in thanks. She smiles back at him. 

Twoie pulls out his wallet and hands her a twenty. "Here. Keep the change." Twoie turns to the brothers. "You guys ready?" They all nod and Twoie smiles. "Alright then, let's get going." 

Twoie opens the door and ducks as he walks outside. Pink follows him, making a small footstep sound as he steps outside with his hands wrapped around the can of apple juice. He stares at the concrete, remembering the feeling of it. Trickster smiles as he runs out before throwing Steven into the air again. Steven lets out a loud laugh as Trickster spins him around before throwing him again. He catches Steven and Steven puts his hands on Trickster's shoulders. 

"How did you get so strong?! I wanna get supa strong!" Trickster grins and glances at the other two. They shrug in response. 

"Well, Kitten. We can teach you! We'll train with you starting later today!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


End file.
